Combating Pornography

COMBATING
PORNOGRAPHY
Volume 1: Regulating access
to pornography
ECLJ’s Report
By Priscille Kulczyk, under the supervision of Grégor Puppinck
September 2023
E U R O P E A N C E N T R E F O R L A W A N D J U S T I C E
SUMMARY
The entrance in the Internet era put pornography to the click of a button, for the
adults as for the young public, turning the society into a true “pornographic
consumer society.” The figures evidence it: pornography is now massively consumed
and the Covid 19 pandemic increased such phenomenon.
This report points out, in first instance, the harmfulness of the consumption of
pornography, specifically for the children who are confronted to it, but also due to
the perversity of its effects on the whole society: it would be naive to believe that
pornography suddenly becomes harmless upon reaching the age of 18 years. Based
upon such statement, this report recommends the implementation of various
measures aimed to better regulate the access to pornography, so as to protect its
(potential) consumers.
Pornography, a harmful consumer product

Towards children, pornography is part of their sexualisation and appears as an
extreme form of it. In 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) indicated being “alarmed by the unprecedented exposure of children to
pornographic imagery, which is detrimental to their psychological and physical 1
development.” Studies evidence that children are massively exposed to it: ever more
numerous, ever younger, and highly frequently. Pornography became an
information source about sexuality. As their brain is still in construction, the effects
are devastating: it includes the shaping of unrealistic expectations regarding
sexuality, hazardous sexual behaviours (early sexual activity, multiple partners,
sexting etc.), addiction to pornography, lower level of social integration, decrease of
the academic results, complexes, appearance of depressive symptoms, sexual
violence amongst minors, etc.
Consuming pornography harms physical and mental health. Some studies evidence
that it would increase sexual behaviours carrying risks to get STIs and that it would
be linked to an increase of sexual dysfunctions. Regarding the addiction risk,
pornography acts on the reward system and neurosciences evidence that the brain’s
reaction to pornography is alike to the one induced by hard drug. Contrary to some
other addictions, this one is hard to arrest as the free contents’ quantity is illimited.
While in its vast majority pornography goes hand in hands with brutality, its
consumption creates an increased risk of violent behaviour: some studies evidence
that it is significantly linked to an increase of verbal and physical assaults.
Pornography also represents a threat for women’s rights; without consideration for
the notions of consent or mutual respect, it reduces women to objects. Such
reification impacts the respect granted to women in the intimate, public, familial, and
professional spheres. By perpetuating harmful sexual stereotypes, it appears as an
obstacle to the eradication of discrimination towards women.
Relationships, couples, families and ultimately the society are endangered by

pornography. Indeed, several studies show that its use goes often together with a
lesser sexual and relational satisfaction with the “real” partner and the
implementation of relationships of submission, inequity and violence inside the
couples, the increase of the probability of infidelity and divorce. As the family is the
fundamental unit of society, the society in its whole is actually impacted by
pornography.
Acting to protect (potential) consumers: better regulate the access to

pornography
Prevention measures are essential and consist mainly in considering pornography as
a public health issue and in ensuring young people’s education and population’s
sensitisation on this key issue. On the other hand, better regulate access to online
pornography is absolutely necessary, mainly in preventing children to such access.
Several supranational documents recognise the harmfulness of pornography and call

upon the States to act, including in favour of the children’s protection. Indeed,
minors are not authorised to access pornography in the real world, it is then logical
to have the same prohibition on the Internet, according to the principle that what is
illegal offline shall be illegal online. Nevertheless, in practice, this brings a conflict
between several rights: 2
- on one side, the international recognised child’s rights, arising from the
International Convention of the right of the child dated 1989 and from the
international texts on specific matters related to the issue of pornography;
- on the other side, there are the rules related to the personal data protection
or the right to respect for private life or freedom of expression, that are yet
not absolute, including regarding access to pornography, as regularly
reminded by the Council of Europe.
Thus, several mechanisms, more or less efficient, have been implemented by some
States in order to better regulate access to pornography. Even if no system appears
to be perfect, as it remains possible to bypass them, such measures could be
combined together to allow at least the reduction of the non-intentional access to
pornography. According to the review of various documents from the European
institutions, such institutions support the implementation of most of them.
To render the consumers reluctant to access to online pornography, it is possible to

impose the affixation of a warning on the harmful effects of pornography
in the form of a message on digital pornographic material and on the home page of
pornographic websites, of a label on printed material or of an instant message during
research. For such purpose, Utah (United States) passed the Porn Warning Label
Law.
Another measure is to implement a rating system for audiovisual contents, so
as to filter online violence and pornography.
Several mechanisms may help prevent access to online pornography more

specifically for minors. The creation of a national body in charge of the issue
of children’s protection in such matter may allow the coordination of the national
effort, and may even act as the point of contact within the frame of an international
cooperation. In 2015, Australia created eSafety, governmental agency in charge of
online safety for adults and children. France implemented a monitoring Committee
for the “Protection of the minors against online pornography.”
It is further necessary to repress the accessibility of a pornographic content

to minors by prohibiting and punishing the provision or dissemination of
pornographic content to minors, but also the mere fact that a pornographic content
may be available to a minor. It is the case for instance for the penal code in France
(art. 227-24) or in Poland (art. 200).
Requiring pornographic websites to check their users’ age is a measure

widely promoted at the European level. In 2022, the European Commission
emphasized its support to “the development of an EU-wide recognised digital proof
of age.” The same year, the PACE called once more on the States to “ support the
use of age verification tools” and detailed the conditions of their implementation.
Several States (Germany, United Kingdom, France, etc.) attempt such
implementation, with varying degrees of success: such a mechanism poses, indeed, 3
technical, economical, and legal difficulties (mistrust of the public, including as
regards the personal data safety, mistrust of the service providers offering
pornographic contents, state or European regulation scale, bypass possibility, issue
of the consequences of the breaches of law, etc.) Such difficulties arise primarily
from the choice of the online age verification method, that shall pursue the dual
objective of safety and efficiency. In 2023, the French government indicated that it
wished to test a verification solution “in double-blind” through an independent
trustworthy third party.
It seems necessary to intensify the use of parental control or filtering

software in the fight against children’s exposure to pornography. Unfortunately,
too few parents install and activate such type of software on the devices to which
their children access. Their efficiency is discussed, nevertheless they seem to be
useful with the youngest, under the age of 15 years. The default activation would be
mandatory on connected devices, from leaving the factory, with deactivation being
possible on request from the holder of the Internet access provision agreement. In
any event, this should be installed and activated by default, in a general manner, in
schools, libraries and public areas. Several States in the United States, the United
Kingdom and Italy experiment such measures.
Lastly, better regulate the access to pornography may necessitate to block the
pornographic websites, i.e., to prevent access to such websites from a specific
country, regardless the place where they are hosted. Such a measure may
constitute a sanction following the breach of the regulation (Germany, France),
including when the blockage is temporary, pending fulfillment of the regulation, or a
more drastic and general solution for access to pornography corresponding to its
prohibition or the prohibition of certain types of contents (China). This may also
appear as a complementary measure from the on-source deletion of illegal contents,
which is the most efficient but proves to be often impossible. Blockage is more
difficult to implement on a legal than a technical point of view, but it is controversial
and easy to bypass. Nevertheless, it avoids non-intentional access to blocked
websites or contents.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our gratitude to Bénédicte Colin, author of the report “Pornography and human
rights,” ECLJ, 2020.
TABLE OF CONTENT
SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 1
TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 6
PART 1: Pornography, a harmful consumer product ................................. 6
1. A “pornographic consumer society” ............................................................. 7
2. Endangered health ..................................................................................... 8
a. Pornography, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexual dysfunctions 9

b. Pornography and addiction ...................................................................... 9
3. Endangered children ................................................................................. 11
a. A more and more massive exposure to pornography ............................... 11

b. Pornography’s harmfulness for children .................................................. 14
4. A higher risk of violent behaviour .............................................................. 17
5. Women’s rights in danger ......................................................................... 18 5
6. Relationships, couples, families and society at risk ..................................... 20
PART 2: Acting to protect the (potential) consumers: better regulating

access to pornography ............................................................................. 24
1. Obligation to affix a warning message ....................................................... 25
2. Adoption of a classification system ............................................................ 26
3. Preventing access to online pornography for children and teenagers ........... 27
a. Creating a national body in charge of the protection of minors against

pornography ............................................................................................. 30
b. Punishing the accessibility of a pornographic content for minors .............. 30
c. Requiring pornographic websites to check users’ age ............................... 33

d. Requiring parental control or filtering software to be activated by default . 45
e. Making educational establishments safe.................................................. 50
4. Blocking the pornographic websites ........................................................... 52
INTRODUCTION
While the definition of what is pornography is open to debate,1 it can be said that,
broadly speaking, it consists of the explicit representation of sexuality as a
physiological mechanism for the sole purpose of sexual arousal. On the other hand,
there is no doubt that violence is omnipresent: according to an analysis of the 50
most popular pornographic videos, 88% of the scenes contain physical violence and
49% contain at least one verbal attack.2
So, in 2011, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, “Acknowledging

that the number of consumers of pornography in Europe has increased, [warned]
against the desensitisation resulting from continued exposure or addiction to
pornography, and against a process of normalisation in which moral coercion and
physical violence may be considered as acceptableI.”3 Facing pornography’s
harmfulness for its consumers, their acquaintances, and the whole society (Part 1), it
is necessary to better regulate access to it, including online (Part 2) as the entrance
in the digital era put pornography at the click of a mouse for adults and children
alike. In particular, the protection of the young generations is crucial: “The better the
child is protected, the more the grown-up person may dispense with protection.”4
6
PART 1: Pornography, a harmful consumer product
“It is easier to enslave nations with

pornography than with miradors.”
Alexander Soljenitsyne
Pornography may not anymore be considered as neutral and harmless. People

watching pornography are individually affected, and furthermore there are harmful
consequences at the public and social scale. Indeed:
1
See for example Adrien Lauba, « La qualification juridique de la pornographie en matière
cinématographique » [The legal definition of pornography in the film industry], in Réseau européen de
recherches en droits de l’homme (dir.), Pornographie et droit, Mare et Martin, 2020, p. 57-79.
2
Ana J. Bridges, Robert Wosnitzer, Erica Scharrer, Chyng Sun, Rachael Liberman, “Aggression and
Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update”, Violence against
Women 16, no. 10 (2010): 1065-1085.
3
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Violent and extreme pornography,
Resolution 1835 (2011), § 6.
4
Tommy Fallot, Communication sur l’organisation de la lutte contre la pornographie faite au congrès
de l’Association protestante pour l’étude pratique des questions sociales [Communication on the
organisation of fight against pornography, Protestant Association congress for practical study of social
issues], Marseille, October 28 and 29, 1891, p. 40:
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k758313/f6.item.zoom#
“Pornography is a social toxin that destroys relationships, steals innocence,
erodes compassion, breeds violence, and kills love. The issue of pornography
is ground zero for all those concerned for the sexual health of our loved ones,
communities, and society as a whole. […] the breadth and depth of
pornography’s influence on popular culture has created an intolerable situation
that impinges on the freedoms and wellbeing of countless individuals.5”
Thus, after having established the existence of a “pornographic consumer society”
(1), we shall evidence that pornography endangers specifically the consumers’ health
(2), children (3), women’s rights (5), together with the relationships, couples,
families, and the whole society (6). It also fosters violence (4).
1. A “pornographic consumer society”

We currently live in a “pornographic consumer society”. Indeed, pornography is THE
prime example of consumer product, as it can be freely, anonymously and
unrestrictedly got, anywhere and at any time: the society is truly “pornified”6, as
evidenced by the figures.
“Every second, 372 people seek so-called “adults” contents on search engines, 28
258 internauts watch them and 3 075 dollars are thus paid.”7 According to the
filmmaker Ovidie, “In ten years, mankind watched the equivalent of 1.2 million of
years of porn.”8 In 2017, the sole website Pornhub recorded an average 81 million
daily visitors, i.e., 28,5 billion for the year.9 Such figures keep growing as the daily 7
visits number amounts to 130 million in 2021.10 Such site’s attendance tripled
between 2013 and 2021.11 It is also unanimously acknowledged that the covid-19
5
National Centre on Sexual Exploitation, Pornography & Public Health – Research summary, January
14, 2019: https://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/NCOSE_Jan-2019_Research-
Summary_Pornography-PublicHealth_FINAL.pdf
6
See Juristes pour l’enfance, « Association Déclic / La consommation de porno par les adultes, reflet
d’une société pornifiée » [Association Déclic / Porno consumption by adults, reflection of a pornified
society] with Maria Hernandez-Mora and Anne Sixtine Pérardel, Youtube, February 15, 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec8NJ-2wWqY See also Auguste Meyrat, “The Pornification of
Society”, Crisis magazine, March 30, 2021 : https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-pornification-of-
society
7
Rémy Verlyck, « Mettre fin à la pornographie est un impératif de société » [Put an end to
pornography is a social necessity], Le Figaro, February 10, 2022.
8
Ovidie, « Pornocratie. Les nouvelles multinationales du sexe » [Pornocracy. The new sex
multinationals], France, 2016, 85 min.
9
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography, Report, Doc. 15406, November
18th, 2021, § 8.
10
The Pornhub Tech Review, April 8th, 2021: https://www.pornhub.com/insights/tech-review
11
François Lévêque, « Pornographie en ligne : une consommation massive, un risque pour les jeunes
et une urgence à réguler » [Online Pornography: a massive consumption, a risk for young people and
an urgent need for regulation], The Conversation, July 6, 2021:
https://theconversation.com/pornographie-en-ligne-une-consommation-massive-un-risque-pour-les-
jeunes-et-une-urgence-a-reguler-163735
pandemic has exacerbated the phenomenon, due to successive lockdowns.12
Pornhub’s traffic jumped by 22% between March and April 2020.13 The same
observation may be done for the volume of offered contents: in 2017, Pornhub’s
users put online more than four million videos, i.e., 595 492 hours.14 In 2019,
Pornhub proudly claimed having "offered more than one million hours of new
contents" and “that anyone would need 169 years to view them without stopping15”!
Access to pornography has become extremely simple and quick, due to the Internet,
as 50% of its traffic is linked to sex.16 A significant part of the population is
concerned as about 66% of men and 41% of women watch this type of contents
every month, according to the studies.17 And such phenomenon literally exploded in
two decades: a study revealed that in 2012, 82% of French women declared having
seen a pornographic movie, against 23% in 1992.18 It also starts younger and
younger: "Up to 93% of boys and 62% of girls of 18 have been exposed to online
pornography during adolescence.”19 It is thus a mass phenomenon.
2. Endangered health
It is evidenced that consumption of pornography is detrimental to physical and
mental health.20
8
12
OSCE and UN Women, Guidance. Addressing emerging human trafficking trends and consequences
of the COVID-19 pandemic, July 2020, p. 30:
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications
/2020/Guidance-Addressing-emerging-human-trafficking-trends-and-consequences-of-the-COVID-19-
pandemic-en.pdf
13
Pornography is booming during the covid-19 lockdowns, The Economist, May 10, 2020 :
https://www.economist.com/international/2020/05/10/pornography-is-booming-during-the-covid-19-
lockdowns
14
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography, Report (15406), op. cit., § 8.
15
an urgent need for regulation], The Conversation, July 6, 2021.
16
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography, Report (15406), op. cit.,
§ 12-13.
17
Ibid., § 11. See also Ofcom, Online Nation - 2021 report, June 9, 2021, p. 100: “Half (49%) of the
UK adult population visited an adult content site and/or app in September 2020, which equates to 26
million unique adult visitors”: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/220414/online-
nation-2021-report.pdf
18
« Les Français, les femmes et les films X », [French people, women and X movies], IFOP survey for
Marc Dorcel performed online between September 7 and 11, 2012 with a sample of 1 101 people,
representative of the French people who are at least 18 years old. November 23, 2012, p. 5:
https://www.ifop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2057-1-study_file.pdf
19
20
Manuel Mennig, Sophia Tennie, Antonia Barke, Self‑Perceived Problematic Use of Online
Pornography Is Linked to Clinically Relevant Levels of Psychological Distress and Psychopathological
Symptoms, Archives of Sexual Behavior (2022) 51:1313–1321.
a. Pornography, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexual dysfunctions
Some studies show that consumption of pornography increases sexual behaviours
carrying risks of contracting STI, including sexual relationships with several partners,
paid sexual relationships, extramarital sexual relationships etc.21
As mentioned by a recent report presented to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe (PACE22), “There could be a connection between the increase of
porn use and the growing number of cases of erectile dysfunction amongst men
under the age of 30.23” Thus, a Swiss study, published in 2012, revealed that 30%
of 18-25 years old suffer from such troubles.24 Another study from 2016 explicitly
links the latter to the consumption of pornography on the Internet.25 Regarding
women, a gynaecologist reports that a significant number of young women confide
not to live a “thriven” sexuality.26 As pornography carries some esthetical standards,
the increase in viewing induces also an increase of “the demand for non-medical
aesthetic genital surgery, especially the growing number of labiaplasty amongst
women and even girls of a very young age.”27
b. Pornography and addiction

A German study28 performed in 2014 on the brain scans of 64 porn users “showed
that the intense consumption of pornography could negatively affect the brain and
that excessive consumption of pornography presents similarities with behavioural
21
9
Paul J. Wright and Ashley K. Randall, “Internet Pornography Exposure and Risky Sexual Behavior
among Adult Males in the United States,” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 1410–1416, in
National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Pornography & Public Health – Research summary, op. cit.
22
23
John D. Foubert, “The public health harms of pornography: the brain, erectile dysfunction, and
sexual violence”, Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence , 2017, Vol. 2: Iss. 3,
Article 6.
24
Mialon, A., A. Berchtold, P. A. Michaud, G. Gmel et J. C. Suris, “Sexual Dysfunction Among Young
Men: Prevalence and Associated Factors”, Journal of Adolescent Health 51, no. 1 (2012): 25-31.
25
Park B. Y., Wilson G., Berger J., Christman M., Reina B., Bishop F., Klam W. P., Doan A. P., “Is
Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports”, Behav Sci
(Basel), 2016 Aug 5;6(3):17. See also Belinda Luscombe, “Porn and the Threat to Virility”, Time, 31
March 2016.
26
See also the warning of Pia de Reilhac, a gynaecologist: Elsa Mari, Sexualité des jeunes adultes :
« La pornographie fait des dégâts graves » [Sexuality of young adults: “pornography causes heavy
damages”], Le Parisien, July 27, 2019: https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/sexualite-des-jeunes-adultes-
la-pornographie-fait-des-degats-graves-27-07-2019-8124555.php
27
See “Rising rates of genital cosmetic surgery subject of new research”, Newsroom, University of
Melbourne, June 29, 2018; Liao L M, Creighton S M., “Requests for cosmetic genitoplasty: how should
healthcare providers respond?”, BMJ 2007, 334:1090; Elsa Mari, Sexualité des jeunes adultes : « La
pornographie fait des dégâts graves » [Sexuality of young adults: “pornography causes heavy
damages”], Le Parisien, July 27, 2019.
28
Simone Kühn and Jürgen Gallinat, “Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated with
Pornography Consumption: The Brain on Porn”, JAMA Psychiatry 71, no. 7 (2014): 827-834.
addiction to substances or gambling.”29 Neurosciences evidence now that the brain’s
reaction to pornography is alike to the one caused by hard drugs as cocaine.30
Indeed, when the brain is exposed to some rewarding thing, it reacts by increasing
the release of dopamine, also called "pleasure hormone". Pornography activates
both centres of the brain’s reward system: pleasure system and desire system.
Thus, the user may be caught into a circle of pleasure and release of dopamine in
response to new images, then of desire and longing to have some more.31 Over
time, the dopamine’s receptors of the reward centre reduce due to a chronical
overstimulation.32 With a blunted reward centre, the user does not sense as well the
dopamine’s effects. Pornography ceases to produce the same excitation as before.
As a consequence, many people seek a more violent and bold content, to obtain a
higher release of dopamine.33
The above German study reveals also that an important use of pornography induces
a decrease in the brain material in the brain’s zones associated to motivation and
decision making. Such lack contributes to an alteration of the impulsions’ control and
a desensitization of the sexual reward.
Pornography is thus very addictive34 and, contrary to other addictions, this one is
difficult to arrest as it is accessible, affordable and anonymous (the three “A35”):
contrary to the “bottom of the alcohol bottle or the last cigarette of the pack”, there
is an unlimited possibility to find a content free to watch.36
10
29
30
Juristes pour l’enfance, « Association Déclic : entretien autour de la consommation de pornographie
par les adultes » [Association Déclic: conversation about pornographic consumption by adults],
February 15, 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbEkWqY1eg; Elisabeth Pierson, « Le porno,
c’est comme la coke » : trois jeunes racontent leur addiction ["porno is like coke": three young people
tell about their addiction], Le Figaro, September 30, 2022.
31
Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself (2007).
32
P. Kenny, G. Voren et P. Johnson. “Dopamine D2 Receptors and Striatopallidal Transmission in
Addiction and Obesity”, Current Opinion in Neurobiology 23, no. 4 (2013): 535–538.
33
D. H. Angres, K. Bettinardi-Angres, “The Disease of Addiction: Origins, Treatment, and Recovery”.
Disease-a-Month 54 (2008): 696-721. Mateusz Gola, et al., “Can Pornography be Addictive? An fMRI
Study of Men Seeking Treatment for Problematic Pornography Use”, Neuropsychopharmacology 42,
no. 10 (2017): 2021-2031.
34
For a description of the addiction process, see Cline, Victor B. and Wilcox, Brad (2002) “The
Pornography Trap”, Marriage and Families: Vol. 9, Article 3, p. 11-13:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/marriageandfamilies/vol9/iss1/3
35
Ibid., p. 13.
36
an urgent need for regulation], The Conversation, July 6, 2021.
3. Endangered children37
Insidiously, “the codes of pornography have invaded our daily lives.”38 The
phenomenon of children’s sexualisation may be easily detected in advertisements,
music, filmmaking, videogames, toys, clothes, magazines, radio shows etc.
Pornography appears as an “extreme form of sexualisation.”39 Thus, would a child
be authorised to watch what happens in a brothel? Yet this is what means online
pornography available to young people, not counting metaverse and its
multisensorial potentialities.40 In 2013, the European Parliament stated that the use
of pornography becomes common amongst young people and permeates their
construction:
”young women and men are most affected by pornography’s new cultural
status; [...] the ‘mainstreaming of pornography’, i.e. the current cultural
process whereby pornography is slipping into our everyday lives as an
evermore universally accepted, often idealised, cultural element, manifests
itself particularly clearly within youth culture: from teenage television and
lifestyle magazines to music videos and commercials targeted at the young.41”
As for the PACE, it indicated being “alarmed by the unprecedented exposure of
children to pornographic imagery, which is detrimental to their psychological and
physical development.”42
a. A more and more massive exposure to pornography
Standardly, pornographic contents are restricted to grown up, nevertheless some 11
studies show that minors are more and more exposed to them.43 indeed, according
to a study of IFOP dated 2017, “during their lives, 63% of boys and 37% of girls
37
"Child" means "every human being below the age of eighteen years" under the meaning of the
International Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
38
Contre l’hypersexualisation – Un nouveau combat pour l’égalité [Against hypersexualisation - A new
fight for equality], Parliamentary report by Chantal Jouanno, Senator for Paris, March 5, 2012, p. 9.
39
Adam Szafrański, “Freedom from Unwanted Sexualisation – Access to Pornography”, in Marriage,
Children and Family – Modern Challenges and Comparative Law Perspective , Instytut Wymiaru
Sprawiedliwośći, Warszawa, 2019, p. 313. See in particular Ksenia Bakina, “Publication of Pornography
and Protection of Children from Sexualiation in the UK Law”, in Marriage, Children and Family –
Modern Challenges and Comparative Law Perspective , op. cit., p. 184-198 (2. Sexualisation of
children).
40
“Some metaverse applications even allow children to enter virtual strip clubs with 3D avatars
simulating sex, with no or little moderation”: PACE, For an assessment of the means and provisions to
combat children's exposure to pornographic content, Committee Opinion, Doc. 15505, April 21, 2022.
41
European Parliament resolution of March 12, 2013 on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU
(2012/2116(INI)), cons. N.
42
PACE, For an assessment of the means and provisions to combat children's exposure to
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), April 21, 2022, § 2; See also accompanying Report
(Doc. 15494, April 7, 2022), § 11-19 (Impact of exposure to pornographic content on the well-being
of children).
43
The following study should also be read: ARCOM, La fréquentation des sites « adultes » par les
mineurs [The visitation of “adult” websites by minors], May 2023: https://www.arcom.fr/nos-
ressources/etudes-et-donnees/mediatheque/frequentation-des-sites-adultes-par-les-mineurs
between 15 and 17 years have at least once visited a website to watch pornographic
films.”44 The trend of such proportion is increasing as, in 2013, the same figure was
of 53% of the boys (i.e., +10 points in four years45). It is the same in the United
States, where a recent poll evidenced that 73% of young people aged between 13 to
17 have been exposed to online pornography.46 In France, the Audiovisual and
Digital Communication Regulation Authority (ARCOM - former Conseil supérieur de
l’audiovisuel/CSA47) indicated that, in 2022, 2.3 million minors are visiting each
month “adults” websites, i.e., an increase of +36% in 5 years; this represents more
than 51% of the boys from 12 to 17 years old.48
The worry comes also from the decrease in the age of the first pornographic view: in
2016 for example, almost 49% of male American students indicated having
discovered pornography before the age of 13 years49 and such phenomenon is now
reaching children in primary school.50 In Poland, a report dated 2022 reveals that,
nowadays, the first pornographic view occurs just before 11 years.51 Such same
figure is of 12 years in the United States.52 A study performed in France in 2023
reveals that more than a quarter (27%) of the questioned 18-24 years viewed
pornography for the first time between 8 and 12 years, such figure more than
12
44
« Les adolescents et le porno : vers une «Génération Youporn» ? » [Teenagers and porn: towards a
"Youporn Generation"?], IFOP study for Observatoire de la Parentalité et de l’Education Numérique
[Monitoring Center for Parenthood and Digital Education], performed form February 21st to 27th, 2017
with 1005 people representing the French population aged from 15 to 17, p. 9:
https://www.ifop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/3698-1-study_file.pdf
45
Ibid., p. 10.
46
Robb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense, p. 8:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2022-teens-and-
pornography-final-web.pdf
47
The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) [French Audiovisual High Council] was the “audiovisual
policeman”. Since January 1, 2022, the CSA and the Haute autorité pour la diffusion des oeuvres et la
protection des droits sur internet (HADOPI) [High Authority for works publication and protection of the
rights on the Internet] merged to form the Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle
et numérique (ARCOM) [Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulation Authority].
48
ARCOM, La fréquentation des sites « adultes » par les mineurs [The visitation of “adult” websites by
minors, May 2023, p. 26.
49
Chyng Sun, Ana Bridges, Jennifer Johnson et Matt Ezzell, “Pornography and the Male Sexual Script:
An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations”, Archives of Sexual Behavior 45, no. 4, May 2016,
983-94.
50
See Agnès Leclair, « Les enfants désormais exposés au porno dès l’école primaire » [Children
nowadays exposed to porn since primary school], Le Figaro, February 10, 2020.
51
Dr Rafał Lange (red.), Mariola Błażej, Filip Konopczyński, dr Agnieszka Ładna, Nastolatki wobec
pornografii cyfrowej - Trajektorie użytkowania [Teenagers towards digital pornography - Trajectories
of use], Thinkstat NASK - Ogólnopolska Sieć Edukacyjna, Warsaw 2022, p. 5.
52
Robb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography, op. cit., p. 8.
doubled in 10 years (11% in 2013); in particular, such proportion tripled amongst
boys, from 12 to 35%.53
The frequency of the pornographic viewing by young people is also worrying. In

2016, 64% of American people aged from 13 to 24 actively viewed pornography
weekly or more often;54 in 2022, 59% of young people from 13 to 17 years watching
pornography willingly do so each week or more often.55 In France in 2017, 36% of
male teenagers who have already visited an X website state that they do so once a
month or more and 4% every day or almost.56 In Poland, almost a quarter of the 16
years old teenagers who watch pornography admit doing so daily (23,9%); amongst
the 12-14 years, such figure is of a bit more than one over five (21,5%57).
Such massive phenomenon may be explained by various reasons. First, the entrance
in the digital era put pornography at the click of a button. It reaches even schools58
through smartphones, more and more frequent amongst minors. Thus, in Poland,
the questioned young people have mostly declared that they saw pornography for
the first time on a phone/smartphone with access to the Internet (35,1%) and that
they mostly use this type of device to access such contents, for 76,2% of
interrogated young people who are 16 years old and for 66,9% of the 12-14 years.59
In France also, “The mobile phone is the most used device, regardless to the age.
For 75% of minors, the mobile phone is even the sole device”60 to access “adult”
websites. Another reason is the "fierce marketing of the porn industry" and the
“various technics used by [it] to attracts unwilling internauts” (advertisement click-
13
through, home page diversion, clandestine websites, hidden key words, illegal
download, streaming and live streaming sites).61 It must be indicated that the
53
01net, « Exclusif (IFOP) – 8 Français sur 10 doutent de l’efficacité du blocage des sites X »
[Exclusive (IFOP) – 8 French people over 10 doubt of the efficiency of the X sites blocking] (IFOP
study for 01net performed by online auto-managed questionnaire from April 13th to 17th, 2023 with a
sample of 2 006 people, representative of the French population aged of 18 years and more), July
2023 : https://www.01net.com/vpn/etude-francais-sites-adultes/
54
Groupe Barna, “The porn Phenomenon: The Impact of Pornography in the Digital Age” (2016).
55
56
with 1005 people representing the French population aged from 15 to 17 p. 17.
57
R. Lange, M. Błażej, F. Konopczyński, A. Ładna, Nastolatki wobec pornografii cyfrowej - Trajektorie
użytkowania [Teenagers towards digital pornography - Trajectories of use], Thinkstat NASK, op. cit.,
p. 5.
58
59
użytkowania [Teenagers towards digital pornography – Trajectories of use], Thinkstat NASK, op. cit.,
p. 5.
60
minors], May 2023, p. 14.
61
Ennocence, Réseaux sociaux, streaming, live streaming et téléchargement illégal : nouvelles portes
d’entrée des enfants vers le monde de la pornographie, premier pas vers une sensibilisation de notre
société sur ces sujets [Social networks, streaming, live streaming and illegal downloading: new
minors’ exposure to online pornography is very profitable to such industry: about 789
million dollars per year, including about 147 million dollars generated by accidental
exposure, and to be added, those minors are the clients of tomorrow.62 According to
the ARCOM, “minors represent 12% of the "adults" websites audience, 17% of
Pornhub’s one.”63
b. Pornography’s harmfulness for children
Pornography has a very important impact on young people, due to their sensitivity to
dopamine.64 A characteristic of a teenager’s brain is its capacity to change according
to the environment, by modifying the communication networks between the brain’s
zones. Such brain’s plasticity allows huge progress in learning and thinking, but it
also renders the brain more vulnerable to the development of mental disorders and
dangerous behaviours.65 Pornography is therefore detrimental to the normal process
of the child’s frontal cortex and its maturation when he or she is exposed to
pornography.66
Early viewing of pornography is thus not harmless, as admitted by the PACE:
This exposure brings increased risks of harmful gender stereotyping, addiction

to pornography, early and unhealthy sexual relationships, as well as difficulties
with developing balanced, respectful relationships in future life”, it results in
the blurring of the boundaries of normal curiosity towards sexuality and those
of socially acceptable behaviour, and it undermines respect for human dignity,
privacy and physical integrity.”67 Indeed, “Recent studies have analysed the 14
impact of pornography on young people’s behaviour and attitudes,
highlighting mostly its negative effects regarding gender equality. As teenage
years are a time for young people to develop an image of themselves and to
discover their sexuality, this impact can be deep and lifelong.68
Young people’s exposure to pornography induces the development of unrealistic and
distorted expectation from sexuality and deceptive attitudes with relationships,
gateways for children to the world of pornography, first steps towards sensitization of our society on
these issues], 2016, p. 21-25 : https://ennocence.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/rapport-
ennocence-VF.pdf
62
Ibid., p. 13.
63
minors, May 2023, p. 23.
64
Pittsburgh University, “Teen Brains Over-Process Rewards, Suggesting Root of Risky Behavior,
Mental Ills”, Phys.org, January 2011.
65
Jay N. Giedd, “The Amazing Teen Brain”, Scientific American, June 2015, p. 32-37.
66
E. Le Roux, “Pornography: Human Right or Human Rights Violation?”, Open Journals Publishing
(2009):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262545053_Pornography_Human_right_or_human_rights_v
iolation
67
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), § 2-3.
68
especially since it is known that “pornography has increasingly become one of the
main sources of information on sex and sexuality for young people.”69 An IFOP
survey reveals thus that “73% of secondary school boys thinks that X movies
participated to the learning of their sexuality.”70 Pornography is yet only a
representation of sexuality, but teenagers do not make any distinction between film
and reality, all the more as the sexual intercourse they see is real. Exposure to
sexually obscene content increases then the probability that teenagers accept and
adopt harmful and risky sexual behaviours, for themselves and others: younger
sexual activity,71 sexting,72 multiple sexual partners, deviant sexual practices, use of
psychoactive substances and vulnerability to venereal diseases.73
The use of pornography causes also heavy psychological damages to children. The
studies evidence that
“the perturbations induced by the viewing of such type of program by young

children [may] lead to psychic perturbations and disordered behaviour such as
the one of a sexual abuse.”74 Generally, “the studies indicate that children
who consume pornography [...] have lower levels of social integration and
higher levels of unwanted behaviours. One can also see with them a higher
incidence of depressive syndromes and a reduction in their loving bonds with
their parents.”75
15
69
Ibid., § 17.
70
with 1005 people representing the French population aged from 15 to 17, p. 30.
71
Ibid., p. 11: “71% of teenagers who have already had sexual intercourse “have already visited a
pornographic website during their life.” As a reminder, the average for all adolescents is 51%”.
72
In Poland, about a quarter of the questioned young people of 16 years (23,5%) have sent other
people sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves: R. Lange, M. Błażej, F. Konopczyński, A.
Ładna, Nastolatki wobec pornografii cyfrowej - Trajektorie użytkowania [Teenagers towards digital
pornography – Trajectories of use], Thinkstat NASK, op. cit., p. 29-35.
73
Elizabeth M. Morgan, “Associations between Young Adults’ Use of Sexually Explicit Materials and
Their Sexual Preference, Behaviors, and Satisfaction”, The Journal of Sex Research 48, no. 6 (2011):
520-530.
74
« L’environnement médiatique des jeunes de 0 à 18 ans : Que transmettons-nous à nos enfants ? »
[The media environment of young people from 0 to 18 years: what do we pass on to our children?],
Report in response to the mission entrusted by Ségolène Royal, delegate Minister for the Family,
childhood and disabled persons to the Collectif Interassociatif Enfance Médias (CIEM), May 2002, p.
39: https://enfants-medias.cemea.asso.fr/IMG/rapportCIEM.pdf
75
użytkowania [Teenagers towards digital pornography – Trajectories of use], Thinkstat NASK, op. cit.,
p. 4 (free translation).
The “perfect" bodies exposed in such contents are likely to generate complexes.76
Early exposure to pornography has detrimental effects “on their self-esteem, well-
being, relationships, equal opportunities and achievements in school. In some cases,
it can lead to sexual violence and be severely detrimental to their physical and
mental health.”77 Such link between pornography and sexual violence between
young people is evidenced:78
“The patients we meet frequently mention repeated contact or even massive

use of pornography, as in the case of [X], 15 years old […], indicted for sexual
assaults on some girls of his school and for the rape of two of his neighbours,
younger than 10 years.”79
It is disturbing to note, as did the French Justice Minister, that with a “significant
increase between 1996 and 2018, almost one over two cases of rapes and sexual
assaults on minors dealt with by the judges in 2020, involved a minor perpetrator (at
the time of the offence).”80 The PACE notes also that the "Law-enforcement
authorities have reported a massive spike in cases of harmful sexual behaviour by
children;”81
16
76
01net, « Exclusif (IFOP) – 8 Français sur 10 doutent de l’efficacité du blocage des sites X »
[Exclusive (IFOP) – 8 French people over 10 doubt of the efficiency of the X sites blocking] (IFOP
study for 01net performed by online auto-managed questionnaire from April 13th to 17th, 2023 with a
sample of 2 006 people, representative of the French population aged of 18 years and more): note
the increase of 17 points amongst young men compared with 2013.
77
PACE, Fighting the over-sexualisation of children, Resolution 2119 (2016), June 21st, 2016, § 2.
78
See Olivia Sarton and Claire de Gatellier (dir.), Violences sexuelles entre mineurs. Agir, Prévenir,
Guérir… Les spécialistes répondent [Sexual violence between minors. Act, Prevent, Heal… Specialists
respond], Artège, 2023.
79
Barbara Smaniotto, « Réflexions autour de l’impact de la pornographie… sur la sexualité
adolescente » [Reflexions on the impact of pornography… on adolescent sexuality], Revue de
l’enfance et de l’adolescence, 2017/1 (n° 95), p. 47-56. See also Juristes pour l’enfance & Famille et
Liberté, Violences sexuelles entre mineurs – Agir, Prévenir, Guérir [Sexual violence between minors –
Act, Prevent, Heal], Colloquium, November 28, 2022: https://www.juristespourlenfance.com/wp-
content/uploads/2023/01/DOSSIER-DE-PRESSE.pdf and Center for Family and Human Rights,
Dismantling the Pornography Industry and Making the Internet Safe for Children , February 23, 2022,
https://c-fam.org/event/dismantling-the-pornography-industry-and-making-the-internet-safe-for-
children/: in Kansas City, it was found that half of the authors of sexual violence against girls under
the age of 10 were boys aged 11 to 15, and one can believe that the cause is the exposure to
pornography.
80
Marie Romero, La prise en charge des mineurs auteurs d’infractions à caractère sexuel à la
protection judiciaire de la jeunesse [The care of minors authors of sexual crimes within the judicial
youth protection], Research report, Justice Ministry, October 2022:
http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/rapport_recherche_maics.pdf
81
pornographic content, Resolution 2429 (2022), § 3.
4. A higher risk of violent behaviour
A report to the PACE indicates that “The connection between sexual violence and
porn is controversial in society and media, but is well documented in science from
different perspectives).”82 Several studies83 are quoted, one “indicates that the
frequent use of pornographic materials is associated with sexually coercive behaviour
in Swedish and Italian young men.”84 A meta-analysis performed in 2015 over 22
studies from seven countries revealed that pornography consumption was associated
with a significant increase of verbal and physical assaults.85
The brain secretes a higher quantity of dopamine when perceiving new, shocking or
surprising things. When the brain’s pleasure receptors catch fire, it becomes more
difficult for the brain’s pain or aversion centres to catch fire at the same time, which
means that the things that would normally be sparsely attractive or even disgusting
cease suddenly to disturb, even become attracting when associated with pleasure.86
According to the report to the PACE, “Users of violent and, according to some studies
also non-violent, pornography are more likely to support rape myths and feel less
empathic with victims of sexual violence.”87 Indeed, assaulted persons in a
pornographic movie have to simulate an assented pleasure: violence is then
normalised and even desirable as synonymous of pleasure. This is the testimony of
Jane Doe, a victim in the “Girls do Porn” case:
“I didn’t know if they were going to kill me. Watching the video now, I can see
it in my eyes. The quivering of my lips and my voice, I know exactly how I 17
82
83
Whitney L. Rostad, Daniel Gittins-Stone, Charlie Huntington, Christie J. Rizzo, Deborah Pearlman
and Lindsay Orchowski, “The Association Between Exposure to Violent Pornography and Teen Dating
Violence in Grade 10 High School Students”, Archives of sexual behaviour, 2019. See also Zillmann,
Dolf (2004): “Pornografie”, in Roland Mangold, Peter Vorderer, Gary Bente (Hrsg.): Lehrbuch der
Medienpsychologie. Göttingen: Hogrefe, S. 565-585; Silvia Bonino, Silvia Ciairano, Emanuela
Rabagliette, and Elena Cattelino, “Use of Pornography and SelfReported Engagement in Sexual
Violence among Adolescents”, European Journal of Developmental Psychology 3, no. 3 (2006): 265-
288.
84
Eran Shor, Age, “Aggression, and Pleasure in Popular Online Pornographic Videos”, Violence Against
Women 1-19, 2018.
85
Paul J. Wright, Robert S. Tokunaga, and Ashley Kraus, “A Meta-Analysis of Pornography
Consumption and Actual Acts of Sexual Aggression in General Population Studies”, Journal of
Communication 66, no. 1 (February 2016): 183-205.
86
Mary Anne Layden, “Pornography and Violence: A New look at the Research”, The Social Costs of
Pornography: A Collection of Papers, 2010, 67.
87
See Vanessa Vega, Neil M. Malamuth, “Predicting sexual aggression: the role of pornography in the
context of general and specific risk factors”, Aggressive Behaviour, Vol. 33, Issue 2, March/April 2007,
p. 104-117; Gert Martin Hald, Neil M. Malamuth, Carlin Yuen, “Pornography and attitudes supporting
violence against women: revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies”, Aggressive Behaviour,
Vol. 36, Issue 1, January/February 2010, p. 14-20.
was feeling in that moment. But to anyone else who sees it, they see what
they want and they think I was complicit.”88
Assaults and sexual abuses are frequent in pornography: it is almost impossible to
know if the actor or actress is agreeing as pleasure is simulated. A person watching
pornography is potentially accomplice to a rape.
“Pornography disseminates the idea that sexuality may not be separated from
brutality,”89 as the vast majority of pornographic materials contains violence.90 It is
deceptive to consider that pornography, as it is watched in a private context, would
not impact the social behaviours of its consumers. By participating to the
trivialization of rape and violence, viewing pornographic videos is then a risk factor
for sexual offences.91 At PACE, it was further underlined that “Watching porn
frequently [...] can be traced back in the lives of convicted perpetrators. Amongst
high rate consumers of porn, sexual aggression is much more likely to occur ”92.
Lastly, “adolescent porn use increases the development of intrapsychic sexual scripts,
which contain ambiguous communication or sexual aggression.” 93
5. Women’s rights in danger

The danger of pornography for women’s rights has been widely highlighted, including
by the United Nations (UN).94 In turn, on the occasion of the International Day for
88
“How Porn Performers Can be Sex Trafficked Without Realizing It”, Fight the New Drug, January 6,
18
2022: https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-trafficking-and-exploitation-are-tied-together/.
89
Collective, « Les méthodes de l’industrie pornographique sont identiques à celles des réseaux de
traite des êtres humains » [The pornographic industry methods are the same as those of the human
trafficking networks], Tribune, Le Monde, December 21, 2020.
90
As a reminder, in the 50 most popular pornographic videos, 88% of the scenes contain physical
violence, 49% at least a verbal abuse (Ana J. Bridges, Robert Wosnitzer, Erica Scharrer, Chyng Sun
and Rachael Liberman, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A
Content Analysis Update”, Violence against Women 16, no. 10 (2010): 1065-1085).
91
See the examples, extreme yet significant, of Theodore Robert Bundy and Arthur Gary Bishop, serial
killers and consumers of pornography and child pornography: in Victor B. Cline, “Pornography’s Effects
on Adults and Children”, Morality in Media, 2001: https://fr.scribd.com/doc/20282510/Dr-Victor-Cline-
Pornography-s-Effects-on-Adults-and-Children#scribd
92
See Vanessa Vega, Neil M. Malamuth, “Predicting sexual aggression: the role of pornography in the
context of general and specific risk factors”, Aggressive Behaviour, Vol. 33, Issue 2, March/April 2007,
pp 104-117.
93
See Isabell Schuster, Paulina Tomaszewska, Barbara Krahé, “Changing Cognitive Risk Factors for
Sexual Aggression: Risky Sexual Scripts, Low Sexual Self-Esteem, Perception of Pornography, and
Acceptance of Sexual Coercion”, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2020 ; Kara Anne E. Rodenhizer,
Katie M. Edwards, “The Impacts of Sexual Media Exposure on Adolescent and Emerging Adults’ Dating
and Sexual Violence Attitudes and Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Literature”, Trauma, Violence &
Abuse, 2019.
94
See in particular: Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995:
“Images in the media of violence against women, in particular those that depict […] the use of women
the Elimination of Violence against Women dated November 25, 2017, Emmanuel
Macron declared that pornography “turns woman into an object of humiliation.”95
Indeed, pornography misrepresents women, in a “sexist and hostile to women”96

way. As an example, it is interesting to note than in 2014, over 63 categories of the
“hetero” tab of one of the most popular pornographic websites, only one is “female
friendly.”97 In pornography, there is no mention of consent nor mutual respect.
Women are always available for sex, have an insatiable sexual appetite and are
sexually satisfied by what men do.98 In such context, exposure to pornography is
highly linked to the belief that male domination and female submission are the
expected gender roles and that women are sexual objects,99 “18% of young men and
37% of young women strongly agreeing that pornography encourages society to
view women as sex objects.”100 Such vision of the woman as an object solely aimed
to satisfy the male’s sexual desire influences the requirement for sexual behaviour
more subjugating and often humiliating for women. Indeed pornography mainly
consists in a physical constraint to have sexual intercourse: by such eroticization of
violence against women, it inculcates its consumers with the idea that women enjoy
sexual violence and degradation. An analysis of the 50 most popular pornographic
19
and girls as sex objects, including pornography, are factors contributing to the continued prevalence
of such violence, adversely influencing the community at large, in particular children and young
people” (§ 118), “violent and degrading or pornographic media products are also negatively affecting
women and their participation in society” (§ 236) ; UN Committee on the elimination of discrimination
against women, General Recommendation n° 19, Violence against women (eleventh session, 1992),
art. 11 and 12 : “Traditional attitudes by which women are regarded as subordinate to men or as
having stereotyped roles perpetuate widespread practices involving violence or coercion, [...] These
attitudes also contribute to the propagation of pornography and the depiction and other commercial
exploitation of women as sexual objects, rather than as individuals. This in turn contributes to gender-
based violence.”
95
Olivier Philippe-Viela, « Violences faites aux femmes : Pourquoi Macron veut mieux réguler l’accès
des jeunes à la pornographie » [Violence against women: why does Macron want to better regulate
access of young people to pornography], 20 minutes, November 25th, 2017.
96
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography , Report (15406), op. cit., § 22
and see Eran Shor, Age, “Aggression, and Pleasure in Popular Online Pornographic Videos,” Violence
Against Women 1-19, 2018.
97
As noted by Julia Hӧrnle in “Protecting children from hardcore adult content online”, OUPblog
Oxford University Press’s Academic Insights for the Thinking World, January 27, 2014:
https://blog.oup.com/2014/01/protecting-children-from-hardcore-adult-content-online/
98
R. Jensen et G. Dines, “The Content of Mass-Marketed Pornography”, Pornography: The Production
and Consumption of Inequality, (1998): 65-100.
99
Jochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg, “Adolescents’ exposure to a sexualized media environment
and their notions of women as sex objects”, Sex Roles 56 (2007): 381-395.
100
§ 37.
videos revealed that 87% of assaults are perpetrated against women and in 95% of
cases their response is neutral or some expressions of pleasure.101
Such reification has a direct impact on the respect towards women, not only in the
intimate sphere, but also in the professional,102 familial and public spheres: "Where
sexuality should be a continuum of experience and learning, pornography carries out
a dehumanisation of the women that may be traced in any level of the society.
Under the pretence of freedom, “porn" is in fact the assertion of male sexual
privileges and the possibility for some to profit from women’s vulnerability to make a
fortune.”103 It also harms female body image, with the creation of hypersexualized
and unrealistic standards, which creates problems of self-esteem. Thus,
pornography thus perpetuates detrimental sexual stereotypes and appears as an
obstacle to the elimination of discrimination towards women, that it is urgent to fight
as it is contrary to every international text aiming to end violence against women.104
6. Relationships, couples, families and society at risk

In pornography, sexuality is disconnected from intimacy and affection to be reduced
to a mere mechanical action whose aim is performance. As a consequence, the link
between the use of pornography and a lesser sexual and relational satisfaction105 and
101
Ana J. Bridges, Robert Wosnitzer, Erica Scharrer, Chyng Sun and Rachael Liberman, “Aggression
and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update”, Violence against
Women 16, no. 10 (2010): 1065-1085. 20
102
Mathilde Cornette, lawyer in the Association européenne contre les violences faites aux femmes au
travail (European Association against violence on women at work), recalls that it happens that “some
bosses wish to recreate pornographic movies scenarios with female employees. Pornography as it is
known today endangers all women, either on the shoot location or not”: Mouvement du Nid, « CP : 40
associations appellent aux actes contre l’industrie pornocriminelle » [Press release: 40 associations call
for actions against the porno-criminal industry], October 4th, 2022:
https://mouvementdunid.org/blog/actus-mdn/communiques-presse/cp-40-associations-appellent-aux-
actes-contre-lindustrie-pornocriminelle/
103
Collective, « Les méthodes de l’industrie pornographique sont identiques à celles des réseaux de
traite des êtres humains » [The methods of the pornographic industry are similar to those of the
human trafficking networks], Tribune, Le Monde, December 21, 2020.
104
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), article 5 (a):
States parties “shall take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of
conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and
all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the
sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women” ; The Council of Europe Convention on preventing
and combating violence against women and domestic violence (2011). See also PACE, Violent and
extreme pornography, Resolution 1835 (2011), § 7.
105
Dolf Zillmann, Jennings Bryant, “Pornography’s Impact on Sexual Satisfaction”», Journal of Applied
Social Psychology, April 1988, Volume 18, Issue 5, p. 438-453 ; Dan J. Miller, Kerry A. McBain, Wendy
W. Li, Peter T. F. Raggatt, “Pornography, preference for porn-like sex, masturbation, and men’s sexual
and relationship satisfaction”, Personal Relationships, 2019, 26, no. 1, p. 93–113 ; Aleksandra Diana
Dwulit and Piotr Rzymski, “The Potential Associations of Pornography Use with Sexual Dysfunctions:
An Integrative Literature Review of Observational Studies”, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2019, June
26, 8(7), 914 ; Paul J. Wright, Ana J. Bridges, Chyng Sun, Matthew B. Ezzell and Jennifer A. Johnson,
with a change in the sexual preferences is widely admitted.106 Consumers of
pornography are often disappointed with the intimate relationships with their
partner, which induces a decrease in trust between partners, a decrease in pleasure
in sexual intimacy, a higher risk to develop a negative body image, the belief that
marriage is sexually restrictive and the decrease in the prospect to raise children.107
Thus, an American study over married couples revealed that those using
pornography more often declare being less satisfied in their sexual life and decision
making in their couple.108 Pornography also carries a relationship of submission,
inequity and violence in the couples: in a study on women victims of domestic
violence, 73% of those having been raped declared that their partner consumed
pornography.109 Consumption of pornography also increases the chances of marital
infidelity by 300%.110 As for the divorce chance, it doubles for men and women
watching pornography.111 A survey dated 2002 with American lawyers revealed that
56% of their divorce cases of the prior year had as significant factor “an obsessive
interest in pornography on the Internet.”112 Through its consequences on children
and couples, pornography then puts families at risk.
The family is the fundamental group unit of society,113 thus, this latter in its whole is
impacted by pornography.114 As was recently asserted to the PACE: “pornography
contributes to shaping people’s views on sexuality and on women, which in turn has
an impact on perceptions of the role of women and men in families, in personal
21
“Personal Pornography Viewing and Sexual Satisfaction: A Quadratic Analysis”, Journal of Sex and
Marital Therapy, 2018, 44:3, p. 308-315.
106
E. M. Morgan, “Associations Between Young Adults’ Use of Sexually Explicit Materials and Their
Sexual Preferences, Behaviors, and Satisfaction”, Journal of Sex Research 48, no. 6 (2011): 520-30.
107
Dolf Zillmann, “Influence of Unrestrained Access to Erotica on Adolescents’ and Young Adults’
Dispositions Toward Sexuality”, Journal of Adolescent Health 27, no. 2 (2000): 41-44.
108
Samuel L. Perry, “Does Viewing Pornography Reduce Marital Quality Over Time? Evidence from
Longitudinal Data”, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017, Feb, 46(2), p. 549-559.
109
Mary Anne Layden, “Pornography and Violence: A New look at the Research”, The Social Costs of
Pornography: A Collection of Papers, 2010, 57–68.
110
Steven Stack, Ira Wasserman, and Roger Kern, “Adult Social Bonds and Use of Internet
Pornography”, Social Science Quarterly 85 (2004): 75-88.
111
Samuel L. Perry, “Does Viewing Pornography Reduce Marital Quality Over Time? Evidence from
Longitudinal Data”, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017, Feb, 46(2), 549-559. See also Samuel L. Perry
and Cyrus Schleifer, “Till Porn Do Us Part? A Longitudinal Examination of Pornography Use and
Divorce,” The Journal of Sex Research, 2017, 1-13.
112
“National Review: Getting Serious On Pornography”, npr, March 31, 2010:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125382361?storyId=125382361&t=1584545
017349&t=1644390899300
113
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Art. 16.3: The family is the naturel and fundamental
group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
114
See Auguste Meyrat, The Pornification of Society, Crisis Magazine, March 30, 2021.
relationships and in society.”115 Such detrimental transformations are encouraged by
the trivialisation of pornography under its interactive and recreational form by “live
shows” and as videogames content. Thus, "pornography seems to transform our
neuronal wiring and then by a domino effect, our social wiring. […] Pornography
exists since the beginning of mankind, nevertheless, its availability has never had so
many effects on our humanity, our capability to live together and to love. It touches
the most intimate to create reifying addictions, and then it renders the society more
violent, pathological and it is an origin of social disintegration.”116
In front of those various observations showing the harmfulness of pornography and

the perversity of its effects on the whole society, it is urgent for the States to take
steps to protect consumers or potential consumers. The second part of this report
shall thus concentrate on regulating access to pornography, in particular in its online
dimension, including on the means aimed to prevent access to minors.
It should nevertheless be kept in mind that prevention is an absolute necessity, all

the more so as the decrease in pornographic demand could lead to a decrease in
supply.117 It is inescapable to present in a synthetic manner some of such preventive
measures. On the one hand, it is necessary to apprehend pornography as a public
health issue, on the same manner as alcoholism, addiction, or smoking. This implies
to appreciate it in itself and to recognize its harmfulness, for example by passing
resolutions in such respect.118 It would also be appropriate to integrate pornography
in the health national programs.119 In a perspective more curative than preventive 22
but health related, addiction to pornography should be registered as disease in the
international classifications120 and some therapies aimed to cure such addiction to
pornography should be developed and made available. On the other hand, public’s
information and sensitisation are essential regarding the issue of pornography.
Further to the widest information to the parents,121 it is necessary to offer to the
young generations a solid education in such respect, including emotional, relational
115
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography , Report (15406), op. cit., § 2;
see also § 26.
116
Rémy Verlyck, « Mettre fin à la pornographie est un impératif de société » [Put an end to
pornography is a social necessity], Le Figaro, February 10, 2022.
117
Such goal is, for instance, the angle of attack of “Fight the new drug”:
https://fightthenewdrug.org/why-we-are-not-trying-to-ban-porn/
118
“These 16 U.S. States Passed Resolutions Recognizing Porn As A Public Health Issue”, Fight the
new drug, November 20, 2020: https://fightthenewdrug.org/here-are-the-states-that-have-passed-
resolutions/
119
See for instance in Poland, the national health program for 2016-2020 (Narodowy Program Zdrowia
na lata 2016-2020), VII, 2.8-2.11: Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Poz. 1492, 16 września
(September) 2016 r.: https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/D2016000149201.pdf
120
See: International Classification of Diseases-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics, 6C72
Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, Version: 02/2022: https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-
m/en#/http%3a%2f%2fid.who.int%2ficd%2fentity%2f1630268048
121
See for ex. PACE, Fighting the over-sexualisation of children, Resolution 2119 (2016), June 21,
2016, 4.3.
and sexual education, sound and of good quality,122 together with an education to
the right usage of information and communication technologies.123 It is also
necessary to organise public information and sensitisation campaigns.124
23
122
See for ex. PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography , Resolution 2412
(2021), November 26, 2021, 10.2.1 ; Tribune of a collective, Pornographie : « L’urgence d’une
éducation à l’amour », [Pornography: "The urgency of an education to love”], La Croix, January 22,
2022: https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Pornographie-Lurgence-dune-education-lamour-2022-01-20-
1201195894
123
See for. ex. Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic
violence (Istanbul Convention, May 11th, 2011), art. 17.
124
See for ex. in France: Ministry of Solidarities and Health, #JeProtègeMonEnfant – Campaign
against minors’ exposure to pornography (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzeJdWpXbwc
PART 2: Acting to protect the (potential) consumers: better
regulating access to pornography
Access to pornography can be regulated through various mechanisms. They should

preferably be combined to reach the highest possible efficiency level. Indeed, as
indicated in the explanatory memorandum of the PACE resolution “Gender aspects
and human rights implications of pornography”:
“several reasons arise for suggesting that the access to pornography, and in
particular the access of minors, be limited, even though this may be viewed by
some as a challenge to the neutrality of the web and of the right to freedom
of expression and information. The balance between a State’s obligation to
protect citizens from harmful activities and criminal acts on one hand, and the
obligation to ensure freedom of expression and access to information on the
other, has, until now, generally tilted in favour of freedom. The current
situation, however, should be challenged for the sake of transgenerational
ethics and gender equality.”125
Freedom of expression and adults’ and children’s right to private life are sometimes
invoked to justify the impossibility to efficiently protect the vulnerable persons
against online harmful content, including pornography. Yet, none of them is
absolute, as it is regularly asserted at the European level. Regarding freedom of 24
expression, the PACE underlined in the context of pornography “that it is possible to
set limits to this right when they are prescribed by law and are necessary in the
interests of, amongst others, the prevention of crime, the protection of morals and
the protection of the rights of others.”126 The European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) has often emphasised “the need, where their physical and moral welfare is
threatened, for children and other vulnerable members of society to benefit from
State protection.”127 In 2001, The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
stressed “that the freedom to use new communications and information services
should not prejudice the human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of
others, especially of minors.”128 In any event, children’s protection against
detrimental activities and contents and criminal actions should be the priority, in
125
§ 61.
126
PACE, Violent and extreme pornography, Resolution 1835 (2011), § 3; PACE, Gender aspects and
human rights implications of pornography, Resolution 2412 (2021), § 5.
127 ECHR, Wetjen and others v. Germany, March 22nd, 2018, n° 68125/14 and 72204/14, § 74;
ECHR, Tlapak and others v. Germany, March 22nd, 2018, n° 11308/16 and 11344/16, § 87; ECHR, A
and B v. Croatia, June 20th, 2019, n° 7144/15, §§ 106-113.
128
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Recommendation Rec(2001)8 on self-regulation
concerning cyber content (self-regulation and user protection against illegal or harmful content on
new communications and information services), September 5th, 2001.
accordance with the international principle of the best interests of the child.129 It is
then justified to implement measures aimed to regulate access to pornography,
especially for children.
1. Obligation to affix a warning message

An obligation to affix a warning on pornographic materials should be imposed on the
Internet websites and the editors of such materials. According to the European
directive 2018/1808 dated November 14, 2018, amending Directive 2010/13/UE
“Audiovisual Media Services”:
“In order to empower viewers, including parents and minors, to make

informed decisions about the content to be watched, it is necessary that
media service providers provide sufficient information about content that may
impair minors' physical, mental or moral development. That could be done, for
example, through a system of content descriptors, an acoustic warning, a
visual symbol or any other means, describing the nature of the content”
(§ 19).
According to article 1.10, a new article 6a is so drafted:
"3. Member States shall ensure that media service providers provide sufficient
information to viewers about content which may impair the physical, mental or
moral development of minors. For this purpose, media service providers shall
use a system describing the potentially harmful nature of the content of an 25
audiovisual media service.”
For its part, the PACE recently invited the States members of the Council of Europe
to
“ensure that tagging of online content as “restricted to adults” is mandatory

for adult websites” and “support pornography harm awareness measures,
such as the use of embedded health and legal warnings within pornography
websites." 130
Thus, a warning to the public on the detrimental effects of pornography should be
affixed as a message on digital materials and as label on printed materials, the same
way as for tobacco products. On research engines, it could be decided to have
instant messages to appear during research, in order to render consumers reluctant
129
Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 3.1: In all actions concerning children, whether
undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or
legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration ; Charter of
fundamental rights of the European Union, article 24: 1. Children shall have the right to such
protection and care as is necessary for their well-being. […] 2. In all actions relating to children,
whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests must be a primary
consideration.
130
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), § 6.3 et 6.9.
to access to online pornography. The home page of pornographic websites should
also show such a warning message. The PACE has thus recently invited the States
to:
“introduce warning label systems requiring pornographic websites to display a

notice warning about the potential harm from pornography use, similar to the
warning labels used for alcohol, smoking or online gambling.”131
In France, even though the initiative was not successful, a member of parliament
addressed in 2020 a parliamentary question to the Health Ministry, asking “if it would
even be possible to imagine a mere mandatory information message before
consumption of pornographic products, on the risks of an over-consumption for
adults.”132 In the United States, Utah passed the Porn Warning Label Law, in force
since April 1, 2020, that requires, under threat of a penalty, the presence of a
warning message for at least five seconds before the display of any pornographic
content or the affixation of a warning message before accessing to a pornographic
website, and that such a website shall make reasonable efforts to verify the age of
all users.133
As for the definition of content descriptors, the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe claimed in 2001 that the Member States should encourage it to
“provide for neutral labelling of content which enables users to make their
own value judgments over such content. Such content descriptors should 26
indicate, for example, violent and pornographic content as well as content
promoting the use of tobacco or alcohol, gambling services, and content which
allows for unsupervised and anonymous contacts between minors and adults.
Content providers should be encouraged to apply these content descriptors, in
order to enable users to recognise and filter such content regardless of its
origin."134
2. Adoption of a classification system

In 1989, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, aiming to “assist
member states in strengthening their action against videograms having a violent,
brutal or pornographic content - as well as those which encourage drug abuse - in
particular for the purpose of protecting minors,” recommended to “encourage the
131
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography, Resolution 2412 (2021),
§ 10.2.4.
132
« Risques de dépendance à la pornographie » [Risks of addiction to pornography], Question
N° 26365 from Mrs. Agnès Thill, February 4, 2020.
133
See for ex. Craig R. Chlarson, “Utah Passes Porn Warning Label Law”:
https://wasatchdefenselawyers.com/utah-passes-porn-warning-label-
law/#:~:text=Utah%27s%20porn%20warning%20label%20bill,warning%20labels%20on%20internet
%20porn
134
concerning cyber content, op. cit., § 6-8.
creation of systems of classification and control of videograms by the professional
sectors concerned in the framework of self-regulatory systems, or through the public
authorities.”135 In 2011, the PACE called on the Member States to “establish an
obligation for companies to submit all audiovisual works for classification prior to
commercial distribution.”136 The next year, the European Commission argued for a:
“Wider use of age rating and content classification”, in order to “have a
generally applicable, transparent, and consistent approach to age rating and
content classification EU-wide, for a variety of content/services (including
online games, apps and educational and other cultural content) and to explore
innovative solutions (e.g. rating by users or automated rating). The system
should provide parents with understandable age categories, while recognising
that the same content may be rated as appropriate for different age
categories in different countries. This approach should be used consistently
across sectors, thus addressing the discrepancies in the implementation of
current systems for the different media in order to benefit market
competition.”137
Rating systems used to filter violence of pornography on the Internet are the most
common coregulation technics.
A rating system “works by embedding electronic labels in the text or image

documents to vet their content before the computer displays them or passes
them on to another computer. The vetting system can be applied to political, 27
religious, advertising or commercial topics. [These] tags can be added by the
publisher of the material, by the company providing access to the Internet, or
by an independent vetting body.”138
The question then arises of the limit over which an online content should be
considered as prohibited pornographic content: excessive censorship or laxity could
be feared, one rating authority could potentially rate one website as pornographic,
contrary to one other.
3. Preventing access to online pornography for children and teenagers

It would be naive to believe that pornography would suddenly become harmless past
18 years (see Part 1). Nevertheless, preventing young people from accessing
135
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Recommendation n° R (89) 7, concerning
principles on the distribution of videograms having a violent, brutal or pornographic content, April
27th, 1989, § 3.1-3.9.
136
PACE, Violent and extreme pornography, Resolution 1835 (2011), 9.1.3.
137
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, European Strategy for a Better
Internet for Children, COM/2012/0196 final, § 2.3.3.
138
Akdeniz, Yaman “Governance of Pornography and Child Pornography on the Global Internet: A
Multi-Layered Approach”, Law and the Internet: Regulating Cyberspace, Hart Publishing (1997): 223-
241.
pornography is an absolute necessity, due to the heavy harm that it causes to
them.139 As proclaimed by Emmanuel Macron:
“Nowadays, pornography walked through the door of the school as alcohol

and drug a short while ago. We may not on one hand deplore the violence
against women and on the other hand close our eyes on the influence on
young minds of a genre that turns sexuality into a theatre of humiliations and
violence against women who could be regarded as agreeing.”140
The internationally recognized rights of the child leave no place for doubt in
such respect. The Geneva Declaration (September 26, 1924) states indeed that
“men and women of all nations, recognizing that mankind owes to the Child the best
that it has to give” (Preamble) and that “The child must be given the means requisite
for its normal development, both materially and spiritually” (art. 1). Likewise, the
International Convention on the rights of the child (1989), in the same words as the
Declaration on the rights of the child (November 20, 1959), states that “the child, by
reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care,
including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” (Preamble);
regarding the access to the media, article 17.e. stipulates that “States Parties shall
Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child
from information and material injurious to his or her well-being”. Pornography is
obviously incompatible with such provisions, with which the States Parties have the
obligation to comply. The Council of Europe argued several times to prevent
access to pornography for the children, including in 2022 through the resolution “For 28
an assessment of the means and provisions to combat children’s exposure to
pornographic contents.”141 Since 2011, the PACE underlined “the need to ensure
that children are protected against exposure to violent and extreme pornographic
material which might harm their balanced development.”142 Under European Union
law, article 24 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union stating
that “1. Children shall have the right to such protection and care as is necessary for
their well-being. […] 2. In all actions relating to children, whether taken by public
authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests must be a primary
consideration,” justifies preventing minors from accessing pornography. Directive
2010/13/UE dated March 10, 2010, (Audiovisual Media Services) dealt with
pornography in the frame of the minors’ protection in television broadcasting (article
27), including by requesting that “Member States shall take appropriate measures to
ensure that television broadcasts by broadcasters under their jurisdiction do not
139
See for ex. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a comprehensive
approach to mental health, COM(2023) 298 final, June 7, 2023, p. 10.
140
Emmanuel Macron’s speech to the UNESCO for the 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, November 20, 2019.
141
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022); and the accompanying report: Doc. 15494, April 7,
2022.
142
PACE, Violent and extreme pornography, Resolution 1835 (2011), § 8.
include any programmes which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral
development of minors”.
In 2018, amendment of such text by Directive (UE) 2018/1808143 led to the insertion
of a new 28 b stating that:
“Member States shall ensure that video-sharing platform providers under their
jurisdiction take appropriate measures to protect: minors from programmes,
user-generated videos and audiovisual commercial communications which may
impair their physical, mental or moral development in accordance with Article
6a(1)”, such article stating that “Member States shall take appropriate
measures to ensure that audiovisual media services provided by media service
providers under their jurisdiction which may impair the physical, mental or
moral development of minors are only made available in such a way as to
ensure that minors will not normally hear or see them.”
It shall be underlined that the online field is not an outlaw zone to the detriment of
the children, among others. Thus, acting to prevent access of minors to pornography
is simply “implementing the following principle: what is unlawful offline is unlawful
online,”144 principle that leads nowadays the European legislative effort:145 this is the
case, for example, with the Digital Services Act adopted in October 2022,146 whose
potential impact on protecting young people from pornography will be interesting to
observe. In this respect, it is to be hoped that the European Commission, which is
responsible for designating the “very large online platforms”, will do so with regard 29
to pornographic platforms.147 Very large online platforms have additional obligations,
particularly in terms of annual assessment of the systemic risks stemming from their
services and concerning “the dissemination of illegal content”, “any actual or
foreseeable negative effects for the exercise of fundamental rights, in particular the
fundamental rights […] to respect for the rights of the child enshrined in Article 24 of
the Charter”, “any actual or foreseeable negative effects in relation to gender-based
violence, the protection of public health and minors and serious negative
consequences to the person’s physical and mental well-being” (art. 34), which is
particularly important when it comes to pornography.
143
Member States had to transpose such Directive before September 19, 2020.
144
« DSA : le règlement sur les services numériques vise une responsabilisation des plateformes »
[DSA: the regulation on the digital services aims to make platforms more accountable], Vie publique,
July 5, 2022: https://www.vie-publique.fr/eclairage/285115-dsa-le-reglement-sur-les-services-
numeriques-ou-digital-services-
act#:~:text=Le%20futur%20r%C3%A8glement%20DSA%20(pour,europ%C3%A9en%20le%205%2
0juillet%202022
145
See also the current review of the European Directive on trafficking in human beings.
146
See https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065
147
On April 25, 2023, the European Commission designated an initial series of 17 very large online
platforms and very large online search engines within the meaning of the Digital Services Act, but
none of them is yet pornographic in nature.
a. Creating a national body in charge of the protection of minors against
pornography
A special body in charge of dealing with the issue of the protection of minors against
pornography may allow the coordination of the national effort in such respect, and
even to act as the interlocutor in the frame of an international cooperation.
In February 2020, France created a monitoring Committee for the “Protection of the
minors against online pornography,”148 under the auspices of the Regulation
Authority for electronic communications, posts and press distribution (ARCEP)149 and
of the ARCOM. Such Committee, that meets at least once every quarter, is
composed of the 32 signatories of the Commitments protocol for the prevention of
the exposure of minors to online pornographic contents,150 i.e., some governmental
bodies, Internet service providers, mobile operators, research engines, contents
editors, terminal and exploitation system manufacturers and association in charge of
the childhood’s protection. Such commitments protocol seems to be mostly focused
on parental control promotion.
In Australia, eSafety was created in 2015 and is the governmental body in charge
of online safety for adults and children.151 It has been granted with vast powers in
such respect, reinforced in 2021 in the Online Safety Act.152 The eSafety Agency
may, for instance, require content services providers to remove an unlawful content
if it is hosted in Australia, or notify the same to filter providers for them to block it, if
it is hosted abroad.153 Since June 2021, it carries on a study on the implementation
of an age checking obligation, in order to fight against the exposure of minors to 30
online pornography.154
b. Punishing the accessibility of a pornographic content for minors

In order to reduce the accessibility of pornographic contents for the young
generations, it is necessary to prohibit and repress the provision or dissemination of
148
ARCEP, Protection des mineurs – L’ARCEP et le CSA réunissent pour la première fois le Comité de
suivi sur la « Protection des mineurs contre la pornographie en ligne » [Protection of the minors – the
ARCEP and the CSA convene the monitoring Committee on the "Protection of the minors against
online pornography" for the first time February 7, 2020: https://www.arcep.fr/actualites/les-
communiques-de-presse/detail/n/protection-des-mineurs.html
149
The ARCEP is the "police of telecommunication”.
150
See Marc Rees, « Protection des mineurs : télécharger la charte anti-porno » [Protection of minors:
download the anti-porn charter], Next Inpact, January 17, 2020:
https://www.nextinpact.com/article/29970/108604-protection-mineurs-telecharger-charte-anti-porno
151
See https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/who-we-are See also Digital Ansvar & Dreyers Fond,
Online child protection initiatives - Mapping of selected initiatives in eight geographical area , May
2022, p. 53-54: https://digitaltansvar.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Digitalt-Ansvar-2022_-Green-
Book_Mapping-of-Online-Child-Protection-Initiatives.pdf
152
See https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/who-we-are/our-legislative-functions
153
Protecting the age of innocence , Commonwealth of Australia, February 2020, 3.51-3.53 :
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/
Onlineageverification/Report
154
See the related file: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/consultation-cooperation/age-verification
such contents to minors, and also to repress the mere fact that a pornographic
content may be available to minors.
The PACE called thus upon the States Member of the Council of Europe
to “introduce and enforce adequate sanctions for the sale of pornographic material to
minors.”155 In such context, it is necessary to mention the European Convention on
Transfrontier Television (May 5th, 1989), ratified by States Member of the Council of
Europe, among which France: it contains minimal rules upon diffusion of transfrontier
television programs in Europe. According to its article 7, related to the responsibilities
of the broadcaster:
“All items of programme services, as concerns their presentation and content,

shall respect the dignity of the human being and the fundamental rights of
others. In particular, they shall not: a be indecent and in particular contain
pornography; b give undue prominence to violence or be likely to incite to racial
hatred". (al. 1) and further “All items of programme services which are likely to
impair the physical, mental or moral development of children and adolescents
shall not be scheduled when, because of the time of transmission and
reception, they are likely to watch them” (al. 2).
Under the European Union law, the review of the “Audiovisual Media Services”
Directive (2010/13/UE) by Directive (UE) 2018/1808 led to the addition of an article
6a drafted as follows:
“Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that audiovisual 31

media services provided by media service providers under their jurisdiction
which may impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors are only
made available in such a way as to ensure that minors will not normally hear or
see them […] The most harmful content, such as gratuitous violence and
pornography, shall be subject to the strictest measures."
In France, article 227-24 of the penal Code considers the fact that a message is
merely available to a minor by punishing of three years imprisonment and a fine of
75 000 euros (€ 375 000 for corporate bodies, under article 131-38 of the penal
Code)
“The fact to manufacture, transport, diffuse by any means and on any material
a message of a violent, […] pornographic nature, including pornographic
images with one or several animals, or that can deeply infringe human dignity
or encourage minors to play games that would physically endanger them, or to
trade such a message, […] when such message may be seen or perceived by a
minor.”156
155
PACE, Violent and extreme pornography, Resolution 1835 (2011), 9.2.2.
156
On the whole question, see Forum des droits sur l’internet, Les enfants du Net – L’exposition des
mineurs aux contenus préjudiciables sur l’internet [Internet Children – Minors’ exposure to harmful
contents on the Internet], 2004, p. 20-23 : https://www.vie-publique.fr/rapport/27244-les-enfants-du-
Such text creates a performance obligation but seems to pose several problems, on
the first part, regarding its implementation in the Internet transnational context and,
on the other part, for its interpretation regarding the level of risk for the minor to be
confronted with the message or as to the appreciation of the message’s content.157
Jurisprudence enforced such text in various situations158 and indicated that the
means and the substrate are indifferent.159
In Poland, article 200 of the Penal Code states, on the first part that “Anyone who
presents a pornographic content to a minor under 15 years or makes objects of such
nature available to them, or distributes a pornographic content in a way allowing
such minor to be aware of it, is convicted to imprisonment up to three years”160 (§ 3)
and punishes of the same penalty “Anyone who advertises or promotes an activity
net-lexposition-des-mineurs-aux-contenus-prejudiciable In Germany, § 184 of the Penal Code (StGB)

provides for a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment or a fine for the dissemination of
pornographic contents to minors or in a location accessible to minors: https://www.gesetze-im-
internet.de/stgb/__184.html
157
See for ex. Cass. crim., January 11, 2017, no 16-80557, M. Xavier X, PB (cassation Appeal Court
Douai, December 17, 2015).
158
Regarding the Internet, see Paris, April 2nd, 2002, E.L. v. Public prosecutor, convicting the manager
of three websites to a fine of € 30 000, as "the warnings and information on access restriction
software displayed in the home pages […] may not be considered as useful precautions as they occur
when the minor is already inside the website and in no way prevent the view of the presentation texts
and pictures that they, on the contrary, may render attractive”; Caen, September 8, 1999, S. v. Public 32
prosecutor: “Even if the access proceeding to the forum Sex Incest is a bit long, it does not contain
any access barrier rendering it totally inaccessible to minor teenagers passionate of multimedia […]
the criminal intention is evidenced since when disseminating on the Internet, a pornographic message
with offer and request of pictures [the accused] may not ignore that digitally experienced teenagers
were likely to see it.” See also Crim. February 23rd, 2000, no 99-83.928 P: "The appeal court’s
decision is justified when it […] states that the accused magazine whose sale to minors is not
prohibited, offered its readers the acquisition of compact disks (CD-Rom) containing pornographic
images, and adds that, even if those disks are encrypted, children may obtain them together with the
key allowing their view, simply by pretending being grown up, without any control, by the
intermediation of a digital server, and indicates lastly that such a disk has been delivered as a
supplement to any buyer of the December 1997 edition of the magazine and that a child could see the
images as easily”; Paris, May 13, 1998: Gaz. Pal. 1999. 2. Somm. 440, note Bréban: "the diffuser of
pornographic and zoophile images must be convicted since the messages may be read by minors and
the implemented systems may not guarantee the substantive impossibility to become aware of them;
He may not hide behind his quality of technical agent nor invoke the implementation of filtering
systems nor the contractual obligations of his contractors”; Aix-en-Provence, February 9th, 1996: JCP
1996. IV. 2369: "Shall be convicted for "crime against decency", the authors of a crude and of bad
taste publication, non-exclusively sold in places where a minimum control may be made upon the
magazines available to minors, such practice being insufficient to prevent the acquisition or the view
of such magazines by minors.”
159
Pornographic message in a newspaper (Paris, December 14th, 1994: Dr. pénal 1995. 90 (1st case),
obs. Véron) and on a blog (Toulouse, January 12th, 2010: Dr. pénal 2010. Chron. 10, obs. Lepage).
160
Some authors regret that "the criminal law protection guaranteed by this provision is not enforced.
In fact, the access of minors to pornographic content is either unsecured or merely accompanied by
the message that it is adult content”: Adam Szafrański, “Freedom from Unwanted Sexualisation –
Access to Pornography”, in Marriage, Children and Family, op. cit., p. 317.
implying the diffusion of pornographic contents in such a way that a minor under 15
years may be exposed to it”(§ 5).
The question arises as to whether such provisions may concern processes allowing
accidental exposure to pornographic contents, as the pop-up windows opening
untimely, for example on unlawful downloading and streaming websites, to generate
advertisement incomes.161 This represents indeed 72% of such accidental
exposures, particularly harmful for children.162 In such context, let us remind the
existence of software to block pop-up windows and online advertisements.163
c. Requiring pornographic websites to check users’ age

The question of the verification of their users’ age by the pornographic websites is
not new but has been the object of ongoing discussions. Even if it is a good and
widely promoted idea, its implementation faces various difficulties. It should be noted
that such verification must also be carried out for access to social networks and other
types of sites whose use is subject to age limits.
→ A measure widely promoted at the European level

From 2001, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommended to
the Member States to
“encourage the use of conditional access tools by content and service

providers in relation to content harmful to minors, such as age-verification
systems, personal identification codes, passwords, encryption and decoding 33
systems or access through cards with an electronic code.”164
In 2018, it became more compelling, stating that “States should require the use of
effective systems of age-verification to ensure children are protected from products,
services and content in the digital environment which are legally restricted with
reference to specific ages, using methods that are consistent with the principles of
data minimization.”165 In 2021, the PACE invited the States to “consider introducing
country-wide age verification for access to pornography, or a legal obligation for
161
Application of art. 227-24 of the penal Code to advertisement and sale of pornographic materials
by an individual on an Internet forum: Paris, May 13th, 1998, M.G. v. Public prosecutor. Gaz. Pal.
1999, somm. Note Y. Bréban.
162
See Ennocence, Réseaux sociaux, streaming, live streaming et téléchargement illégal : nouvelles
portes d’entrée des enfants vers le monde de la pornographie, premier pas vers une sensibilisation de
notre société sur ces sujets [Social networks, streaming, live streaming and illegal downloading: new
gateways for children to the world of pornography, first steps towards sensitization of our society on
these issues], 2016, op. cit., p. 12, see also p. 10: “14% of 9-16 year olds have been accidentally
exposed to pornographic websites. And 36% of 15-16 year olds. More than 74% of them claim this
was a bad experience.”
163
For ex. AdBlock.
164
concerning cyber content, op. cit., § 11.
165
Committee of Ministers, Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)7 Guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil
the rights of the child in the digital environment, July 4, 2018, § 56.
companies distributing pornography to verify the age of users."166 In 2022, it called
again to “support the use of age verification tools” specifying the conditions to their
implementation:167 including “both dedicated websites hosting adult content and
mainstream and social media, which include adult content” should be obliged to use
such tools (6.4.1), such tools should be “simple, secure and effective” and ensure the
users’ data protection (6.4.2), be “cost effective [...] and capable of treating large
data volumes” (6.4.8). Their providers should be certified and controlled from time
to time on the basis of various criteria (6.4.3). The States should also ensure a
systematic monitoring by the relevant law-enforcement bodies (6.4.6), consider the
development of “black” lists of domains according to their compliance with the law
(6.4.5), “tackle the problem of search engines that promote non-compliant sites
because users favour sites that do not ask for their personal information, which
increases “bounce rate” and has an adverse commercial effect on compliant sites ”
(6.4.4). The PACE invites to “develop awareness-raising campaigns to promote
public trust in age verification platforms,” to reduce the research of non-compliant
websites which are more dangerous (6.4.9).
At the European Union level, the Council of the European Union required in 1998
that “the supply and distribution of content likely to harm minors should be subject,
where possible, to protection measures such as […] systems to check the age of
users.”168 The “Audiovisual Media Services Directive” (2010/13/UE) as amended in
2018 by the directive (UE) 2018/1808 contains now an article 28b stating that:
“3. […] For the purposes of the protection of minors, provided for in point (a) 34
of paragraph 1 of this Article, the most harmful content shall be subject to the
strictest access control measures. Those measures shall consist of, as
appropriate: […] f) establishing and operating age verification systems for
users of video-sharing platforms with respect to content which may impair the
physical, mental or moral development of minors.”
In 2022, in the new European strategy for a better internet for kids, the European
Commission observed the overall inefficiency of the age checking mechanisms and
stated that:
“[it will] issue a standardisation request for a European standard on online age
assurance / age verification in the context of the eID proposal” and “support
the development of an EU-wide recognised digital proof of age based on date
of birth”; thus, it “invites Member States to […] support effective age-
166
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography , Resolution 2412 (2021),
§ 10.4.9.
167
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), 6.4 - 6.4.10. See also the accompanying report: Doc.
15494, April 7, 2022, § 27-39.
168
98/560/CE Council Recommendation of 24 September 1998 on the development of the
competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national
frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human
dignity.
verification methods, in line with the eID proposal” and the “Industry to […]
effectively implement measures on access to age-restricted content, including
adult content websites and 18+ games, in line with national and European
rules.”169
→ Groping regulations
Some States try to implement an age checking system, to contain minors’ access to
pornography, with more or less success.170
In Germany, under §4 of the Länder’s treaty on youth protection in the medias

(2002171), pornographic contents providers shall implement an age checking
mechanism: the Commission for the youth protection in the media (KJM), control
central body for the protection of minors in the private radio diffusion and the media,
provides for a list of assessed technical solutions. Some media regulation authorities
in some Länder launched judicial actions against infringing websites, that face a
blockage measure.172
The United Kingdom173 scheduled the implementation of an age checking

obligation amongst the provisions of the Digital Economy Act dated 2017,174 but such
project has been postponed several times and later abandoned in 2019. A new draft
law on online safety (Online Safety Bill) with similar provisions is currently
discussed:175 the providers whose services include pornographic contents will have to
prevent minors from accessing them.176 The Children’s code or Age Appropriate 35
Design Code, related to the minors’ data treatment has been issued by the
Information Commissioner’s Office (equivalent to the CNIL in France) and entered
into force on September 2, 2021, for the digital services providers: it enumerates
169
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Digital Decade for children and
youth: the new European strategy for a better internet for kids, COM(2022) 212 final.
170
See for ex. AVPA, AV around the world: https://avpassociation.com/map/?location=gb
171
Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag der Länder (JMSTV), 2002, p. 67 s.:
https://docplayer.org/23275290-Jugendschutzgesetz-der-laender.html
172
Safersurfing, Gerichtsurteil: Porno-Portale verstoßen gegen Jugendschutzgesetz in Deutschland
[Court ruling: Porn portals violate youth protection law in Germany], December 22, 2021:
https://www.safersurfing.org/gerichtsurteil-porno-portale-verstossen-gegen-jugendschutzgesetz-in-
deutschland/
173
On this issue as a whole, see: PACE, For an assessment of the means and provisions to combat
children's exposure to pornographic contents, Report, Doc. 15494, April 7, 2022, § 35; Protecting the
age of innocence, Commonwealth of Australia, February 2020, op. cit., 3.56 and s.; Damien Leloup,
« Comment un projet britannique de filtrage du porno a tourné à la catastrophe » [How a British
project of filtration of porn turned into a catastrophe], Le Monde, July 13, 2019.
174
Digital Economy Act: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/contents
175
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3137 See Dan Milmo & Jim Waterson, “Porn sites in UK will have to
check ages in planned update to online safety bill”, The Guardian, February 8, 2022.
176
See Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Policy paper, Online Safety Bill: supporting
documents, Updated on January 18, 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-
safety-bill-supporting-documents
various means for checking the internauts’ age without prescribing one particular, for
the sake of flexibility, to allow the providers to adapt in accordance with the provided
services and with the risks of data processing.177
In Canada, Senator Mrs. Julie Miville-Dechêne, introduced in Autumn 2020 the draft
law S-203 restricting online access for young people to sexually explicit material.178 It
has been passed by the Senate but not by the House of Commons as elections come
near. A new draft law S-210 has been introduced by the same senator and is in
discussion with the Senate:179 it provides for the penalisation of “Any organization
that, for commercial purposes, makes available sexually explicit material on the
Internet to a young person” and punishes it of a fine of not more than CAD 250 000
which can amount to CAD 500 000 in case of recidivism. Such project is criticised,
including as regards privacy protection.180
In Poland, a draft law on the minors’ protection against pornographic contents has
been introduced by the Association Twoja Sprawa in December 2019,181 then
endorsed by the government in the beginning of 2020. Taking as example the law
related to gambling activities, it provided for a mandatory control of the users’ age
by the websites giving access to pornographic contents, such websites being
registered on a registry for unlawful pornographic domains (similar to the one of the
unlawful money gambling websites) in case of infringement of the law. The blocking
of the pornographic content by the navigators in a 48h delay from registration and
the termination of the provision of payment services 30 days after registration,
together with a financial penalty up to twenty times the average monthly wages in 36
the relevant companies’ sector were also provided for. Such a project raised many
questions182 and it seems to be stalled.183 At the same time, a draft law aimed to
177
Age Appropriate Design Code, Age appropriate application (3.): https://ico.org.uk/for-
organisations/guide-to-data-protection/ico-codes-of-practice/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-
practice-for-online-services/3-age-appropriate-application/; See Digital Ansvar & Dreyers Fond, Online
child protection initiatives - Mapping of selected initiatives in eight geographical area , May 2022, op.
cit., p. 46-50.
178
Bill S-203 - act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material:
https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/S-203/third-reading
179
Bill S-210 - act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material:
https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/fr/projet-de-loi/44-1/s-210
180
Dale Smith, Unduly restrictive?, The Canadian Bar Association, March 15th, 2022:
https://nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/in-depth/2022/unduly-restrictive
181
Draft law and explanatory statement available on the web site of Stowarzyszenie Twoja Sprawa:
https://twojasprawa.org.pl/article/sts-prezentuje-projekt-przepisow-chroniacych-dzieci-przed-
pornografia. On the issue as a whole, see Rogala Krystyna, “Projekt ustawy o ochronie małoletnich
przed treściami pornograficznymi – analiza proponowanych rozwiązań” [Draft law on the protection of
minors from pornographic content – analysis of the proposed solutions], Prawo Mediów
Elektronicznych, 2020, n° 2, p. 4-11; Sylwia Czubkowska, Rząd szuka haka na porno. KRRiT będzie
prowadzić rejestr nielegalnych domen z pornografią [The government is looking for a porn hack.
KRRiT will keep a register of illegal porn domains], Wyborcza.pl, 16.01.2020.
182
Adam Polanowski, Weryfikacja wieku przy dostępie do treści pornograficznych [Age verification for
access to pornographic content], Co do zasady, 20.01.2020: https://codozasady.pl/p/weryfikacja-
wieku-przy-dostepie-do-tresci-pornograficznych; Jak rząd chce zablokować Polakom dostęp do stron
require from the Internet access providers the provision and promotion of a parental
control on the connected devices184 (cf. infra) has been introduced in October 2022.
In France, law 2020-936 dated July 30, 2020 (called law Couillard) aiming to
protect victims of marital violence amended article 227-24 of the penal Code by
adding a last paragraph stating that “The criminal offenses determined in this article
are committed, including if the access of a minor to the messages indicated in the
first paragraph results from a mere declaration by the minor indicating that he/she is
older than 18 years”. A pornographic website infringes the law if it is accessible to
minors and even if the access is under the condition of a disclaimer requesting from
the internaut to tick a box “I’m 18 years old” or to enter a birth date. The official
publication of the enforcement decree took time and happened only on October 8,
2021. After the referral to the CSA by some associations,185 five pornographic
websites (Pornhub, Tukif, Xnxx, Xhamster et Xvideos) received a formal request by
the CSA at the end of 2021.186 Facing their inertia after 15 days, the chairman of the
ARCOM seized the court of Paris in March 2022 to obtain their blockage by the
Internet service providers (ISP). Unfortunately, the judge did not require the
blockage of the websites and proposed a mere mediation between the websites
editors, ISPs and the ARCOM.187 Furthermore, a prior question of constitutionality
has been raised by the editor company of Pornhub and notified to the Court of
Cassation on October 4, 2022: the principle of the legality of criminal offences and
penalties and the freedom of speech were purportedly violated as such law dated
July 30, 2020, and article 227-24 of the French penal Code would not “determine in
37
porno? I czy to ma sens? [How does the government want to block Poles from accessing porn sites?
And does this make sense?], Niebezpiecznik o bezpieczeństwie i nie..., 17.12.2019 :
https://niebezpiecznik.pl/post/blokada-tresci-pornograficznych-w-polsce/
183
Michał Miśko, Wraca temat weryfikacji wieku użytkowników na stronach pornograficznych [The
subject of age verification of users on pornographic sites is back on the table], Geekweb, 10.02.2022 :
https://www.geekweb.pl/internet/item/2623-weryfikacja-wieku-uzytkownikow-stron-pornograficznych
184
Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów, Projekt ustawy o ochronie małoletnich przed dostępem do
treści nieodpowiednich w internecie [Draft law on the protection of minors from access to
inappropriate content on the internet], UD451: https://www.gov.pl/web/premier/projekt-ustawy-o-
ochronie-maloletnich-przed-dostepem-do-tresci-nieodpowiednich-w-internecie
185
Marc Rees, « Contrôle d’âge ou blocage : la lettre de saisine du CSA contre plusieurs sites
pornographiques » [Age control or blockage: seisin letter of the CSA against several pornographic
websites], Next inpact, November 27, 2020: https://www.nextinpact.com/article/44810/controle-
dage-ou-blocage-lettre-saisine-csa-contre-plusieurs-sites-pornographiques
186
CSA, Décision du 13 décembre 2021 mettant en demeure la société MG Freesites Ltd en ce qui
concerne le service de communication au public en ligne « Pornhub » [Decision dated Decembre 13,
2021 formally requiring the company MG Freesites Ltd in relation with the online public
communication service “Pornhub”]: https://www.csa.fr/Reguler/Espace-juridique/Les-textes-adoptes-
par-l-Arcom/Les-decisions-du-CSA/Decision-du-13-decembre-2021-mettant-en-demeure-la-societe-
MG-Freesites-Ltd-en-ce-qui-concerne-le-service-de-communication-au-public-en-ligne-Pornhub
187
Alexandre Boero, « Pornhub, xHamster et consorts: de la médiation au blocage, les sites pour
adultes en sursis ? » [Pornhub, xHamster and consorts: from mediation to blockage, the adults
websites on borrowed time?], Clubic, September 7, 2022:
https://www.clubic.com/porno_industrie_sexe/actualite-436710-pornhub-xhamster-et-consorts-de-la-
mediation-au-blocage-les-sites-pour-adultes-en-sursis.html
sufficiently clear and precise terms the offense and behaviour that could lead to a
penalty having the characteristics of a punishment and that they are not necessary,
adapted and proportional to the lawmaker’s goal of prevention of the access by
minors to the pornographic contents on the Internet.” The Court of Cassation, by a
decision dated January 5, 2023, refused to transfer such prior question of
constitutionality to the constitutional court as it has no serious character, as the
attacked texts did not include any risk of arbitrariness and as the limitation of
freedom of speech was “necessary, adapted and proportional to the goal of
protection of minors.”188
The current cumbersome procedure jeopardizes its efficiency:189 obligation for the
ARCOM to establish the offense through a bailiff, formal request mandatory before
any court action intended to block the website even though the offense is obvious,
respect of the e-Commerce European Directive requiring notifying the process to the
European Commission and the State member of the website editor, absence of
instructions regarding the technical solution to implement for age checking etc. For
some people, “the measure is sinking."190 Meanwhile the Senate passed on July 5,
2023, at first reading a draft law aiming to secure and regulate the digital space, of
which one goal is to protect children from online pornography through the
reinforcement of the ARCOM powers, including by allowing it to decide, without
judicial intervention, the blockage of the websites in breach of the users’ age
checking obligation, to “require the dereferencing of the search engines and to
impose heavy fines.”191 Furthermore, the government indicated at the beginning of
February 2023 that it wanted to test, as soon as in March, and enforce in Autumn 38
2023, a technical solution for age certification to prevent the access of minors to
188
Cassation court, first civil chamber, January 5, 2023, appeal n° 22-40.017. Lionel Costes, « Blocage
des sites pornographiques : rejet d’une QPC par la Cour de cassation » [Blockage of the
pornographic websites: rejection of a preliminary question about constitutionality by the cassation
Court], Lamyline, January 6, 2023:
https://www.actualitesdudroit.fr/browse/affaires/immateriel/39561/blocage-des-sites-
pornographiques-rejet-d-une-qpc-par-la-cour-de-cassation
189
See Gordon Choisel, « Les limites procédurales à la protection des mineurs contre la pornographie
en ligne » [Procedural limits to the protection of minors against online pornography], Recueil Dalloz
2021 n° 35, p. 1821-1822; A. Billon, A. Borchio Fontimp, L. Cohen, L. Rossignol, « Porno : L’enfer du
décor » [Porn: Hell behind the scenes], information report n° 900 (2021-2022), Senate, Delegation to
women’s rights, September 27, 2022, p. 123 : https://www.senat.fr/rap/r21-900-1/r21-900-11.pdf
190
Tom Kerkour, « Deux millions de mineurs exposés à de la pornographie : pourquoi l’État peine tant
à protéger les enfants » [Two million of minors exposed to pornography: why is the State so slow to
protect children], Le Figaro, June 29, 2022. See also the speech of Senator Marie Mercier on March
1st 2023:
http://www.senat.fr/seances/s202303/s20230301/s20230301009.html#Niv3_titS2_Vote_sur_l_ensem
ble
191
République française, Vie publique, « Projet de loi visant à sécuriser et réguler l’espace
numérique » [draft law aiming to secure and regulate the digital space] July 6, 2023:
https://www.vie-publique.fr/loi/289345-securiser-et-reguler-lespace-nunerique-projet-de-loi-sren
pornographic websites.192 It would be the checking solution in “double-blind,” in
which:
“The provider of the majority certificate does not know for what it will be
used. It may be an operator telecom, a digital identity provider or any other
body likely to certify a person’s majority. And the website on which the
certificate is used is not aware of the person’s identity.”193
Dictate to the relevant websites the method or methods to be used seems necessary
to avoid any dispute on the principle of the legality of criminal offences and
penalties.
Thus, “as of today, no democratic country managed to implement a fully satisfying

and efficient regulation to prohibit the access of minors to pornographic contents.”194
However, while seven US states have passed laws requiring age verification for users
of pornographic sites,195 such legislation would explain a fall in the number of visits
to these sites and, above all, Pornhub's decision to stop providing its services in
Mississippi, Utah and Virginia.196 Could this measure prove effective on a larger
scale?
→ A measure that poses technical, economical and legal difficulties

In practice, implementing such an age checking would pose technical, economical,
and legal difficulties197 and the main question is necessarily the choice of the
checking method. 39
Facing some reluctances from the public, it is necessary to sensitize the society to
the necessity of measures aiming to regulate access to pornography, including
through the internaut’s age verification, and to the safety of such measure regarding
privacy and personal data protection, in accordance with the General Data Protection
Regulation dated April 27, 2016, related to the processing of personal data in the
European Union. Attention should be paid to ensure the ease of use of such
verification, that should not excessively encumber the navigation. In such a context,
a certification system seems necessary, to assess the age checking technological
solutions under various criteria and to certify and control their providers. Among
192
« La France va bloquer l’accès aux sites pornographiques pour les mineurs » [France shall block
the access to pornographic sites to the minors], Le Figaro, February 5, 2023.
193
« Sites pornographiques : un système de vérification d’âge en "double anonymat" va être testé dès
le mois de mars » [Pornographic websites: an age verification system in "double-blind" shall be tested
as soon as March], France Info, February 15, 2023.
194
A. Billon, A. Borchio Fontimp, L. Cohen, L. Rossignol, « Porno : L’enfer du décor », [Porn: Hell
behind the scenes], information report n° 900 (2021-2022), Senate, op. cit., p. 126.
195
Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, Utah, Virginia, Texas.
196
Marc Novicoff, “A Simple Law Is Doing the Impossible. It’s Making the Online Porn Industry
Retreat”, Politico, August 8, 2023: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/08/age-law-
online-porn-00110148
197
On the lessons to be learned from the failure of the British regulation, see: Protecting the age of
innocence, Commonwealth of Australia, February 2020, op. cit., 3.78 et s.
others, there are associations of age verification providers, as the Age Verification
Providers Association (AVPA) whose code of conduct shall be fulfilled by all and any
members.198
It seems also necessary to solve the question of the regulation scale: should it be left
to each State to determine its own regulations or should them be common in the
European Union for example? Some people call for the second option:
“The [European Market’s] size is sufficient so that the websites do not wish to
lose it. Furthermore, a political willingness seems to emerge. [...] The locking
of the pornographic websites is then conditioned to a standardisation and
compromise work between the countries. We should find a system that
displeases to the less possible people”, asserts Olivier Blazy, a cryptograph
and teacher to the Polytechnic School.199
Thus, at the European Union level, euConsent200 is a consortium funded by the

Commission and composed of “academic experts in child rights and privacy, and
technology providers, which aims to operationalise extensions to the eIDAS201
infrastructure required to deliver its vision for pan-European, open-system, secure
and certified interoperable age verification and parental consent to access
information society services.”202
In practice, it appears that no system is perfect, that there will certainly always exist
ways to bypass it (VPN203, darkweb, non-compliant sites…)204 Nevertheless, it seems
better, “not [to] let the perfect be the enemy of the good” 205: non-intentional access 40
to pornography would yet be reduced. On the other hand, such a measure would
not constitute a miracle solution but should be analysed as a measure amongst
others in the minor’s protection against pornography system.
198
https://avpassociation.com/membership/avpa-code-of-conduct/
199
Emmanuelle Lucas, « La bonne échelle de régulation de la pornographie est sans doute l’Europe »
[The right pornography regulation scale is probably Europe], La Croix, December 21, 2021 :
https://www.la-croix.com/France/bonne-echelle-regulation-pornographie-sans-doute-lEurope-2021-
12-29-1201192283
200
https://euconsent.eu/
201
Regulation (EU) n° 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic
transactions in the internal market (regulation eIDAS).
202
PACE, For an assessment of the means and provisions to combat children’s exposure to
pornographic contents, Report (15494), op. cit., § 47.
203
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows to hide one IP address so that to go through servers in a
chosen country.
204
See CNIL, Vérification de l’âge en ligne : trouver l’équilibre entre protection des mineurs et respect
de la vie privée [Online age verification: find the balance between protecting minors and respecting
privacy], July 26, 2022: https://www.cnil.fr/fr/verification-de-lage-en-ligne-trouver-lequilibre-entre-
protection-des-mineurs-et-respect-de-la-vie: In the United Kingdom, “23% of minors declare that they
may bypass the blockage measures and some editors of pornographic contents already offer VPN
services.”
205
Protecting the age of innocence, Commonwealth of Australia, February 2020, op. cit., 3.177.
What should be done then in case of infringement of the regulation? Research
engines should not reference the defaulting websites. The blocking of such websites
would be a solution but would cause other problems,206 including as the adults who
would like to access to them would not be able to do so.
Facing the mistrust from the service providers offering pornographic contents, it is
important to make sure that all of them are under a strict but equal regulation
regarding competition, so as to favour their cooperation. On the other hand, for
purpose of limitation of the pornographic contents on the Internet, a drastic
regulation to the access to such websites could affect their economic model based on
advertisement. Besides, some people believe that:
“the introduction of mandatory age verification systems will be an expensive

process, affordable only by the main actors of the online pornographic market.
This could lead to the disappearance of the small websites with pornographic
contents and to the monopolisation of the market of such contents
providers.”207
→ The touchy question of the choice of the mechanism for online age verification
Regarding age verification, it is fundamental to take care of the privacy and personal
data protection: there are risks of capture, hacking and data leakage, frauds (for
example through banking data).208 It is then necessary to implement technical
solutions with the double goal to be safe on such respect and efficient, the mere
disclaimer is not an appropriate solution. 41
Many age verification tools have been conceived. This is a non-exhaustive list of
some of them:
- the presentation of a credit card or a micro-payment by bank card.209 It being

indicated that bank cards may be available from 16 years in some countries and that
it is not impossible that a minor get hold on an adult’s references.
206
See Christophe Tardieu and Philippe Schil, Prévention de l’exposition des mineurs aux contenus
pornographiques sur internet [Prevention of the minors’ exposure to pornographic contents on the
Internet], Inspection Générale des Finances et Conseil Général de l’Economie, de l’Energie et des
Technologies, December 2019, p. 32:
https://www.economie.gouv.fr/files/files/directions_services/cge/Rapports/2019_12_Prevention_mine
urs.pdf
207
Kamila Groszkowska, "Prawne możliwości ograniczenia dostępu do pornografii w internecie w Unii
Europejskiej" [Legal possibilities of restricting access to pornography on the Internet in the European
Union], Analizy BAS, Biuro Analiz Sejmowych, nr 1 (149), January 4, 2019, p. 9.
208
Internet], 2019, op. cit., p. 29-32 (Risks and disadvantages of the age verification systems).
209
On October 25, 2022, the French Government claimed wanting to implement such a measure to
prohibit the access to pornographic websites to the minors: « Sites pornos : pour bloquer l’accès aux
mineurs, le gouvernement envisage d’imposer la carte bleue » [Porn websites: to block the access to
the minors, the government considers imposing the banking card], Le Figaro, October 25, 2022.
- the presentation of an identity paper number causes doubts as to its reliability, on
the one hand, as it may be used by several people, even minors, and, on the other
hand, as for the personal data safety. Louisiana, since the enforcement of Law 440,
on January 1, 2023, requires the presentation of a copy of an identity paper to
access to the internet websites whose content are, for at least a third of them,
“detrimental to minors.”210
- the use of an identity paper with picture, combined with “face check biometrics
[…]. The ID is scanned and authenticated, with companies working to ensure the
documents provided by customers are real and that the same person is in possession
of the document."211 A picture of the internaut taken during the check may also be
compared with the picture in the document registered with the administration.212
- the face analysis with facial biometrics.213 Generally, in addition to the existence of
a certain margin of error, such technics seem intrusive and hazardous for personal
data: the French “Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés” (CNIL)
recalled that, regarding the “biometric data processing, its use should be particularly
framed by a specific rule, and shall, as a principle, in accordance with the GDPR, be
implemented by a specific legal rule or based upon the free consent of the relevant
people.”214 In Germany, the Commission for youth protection in the media approved
in May 2022 several technics using the artificial intelligence.215
- the purchase or free delivery in a shop of a “pass” (scratch card disclosing a code):
the age checking is performed at the cash desk. Such a system guarantees online 42
anonymity but, if a payment is required, it amounts to requiring payment for access
to websites supposed to be free. A report from the French Administration seemed to
favour such free solution,216 whereas the CNIL warns on its potential “stigmatising”
nature and on the risk of “fraud by reselling the cards on a parallel market”,
210
Observatoire Juridique et Politique des États-Unis, « Pornographie en ligne. Exigence d’une
vérification d’identité en Louisiane » [Online pornography. Requirement of an identity checking in
Louisiana]: http://lexpolamerica.com/web-Pornographie-controle-identite.html
199
pornographic contents, Report (15494), § 30.
212
« Un scan du visage pour les australiens consommateurs de porno ? » [A facial scan for Australian
porn consumers?], Stop au porno, October 28, 2019: https://www.stopauporno.fr/2019/10/28/un-
scan-du-visage-pour-les-australiens-consommateurs-de-porno/
213
F. ex. Yoti, that estimates the age from a picture. See PACE, For an assessment of the means and
provisions to combat children's exposure to pornographic contents , Report (15494), § 31.
214
privacy], July 26, 2022, op. cit.
215
Laura Kabelka, « L’organisme allemand de protection de la jeunesse approuve l’IA comme outil de
vérification de l’âge » [German youth protection body approves AI as age checking tool], Euractiv,
May 31, 2022: https://www.euractiv.fr/section/economie/news/lorganisme-allemand-de-protection-de-
la-jeunesse-approuve-lia-comme-outil-de-verification-de-lage/
216
Christophe Tardieu and Philippe Schil, Prévention de l’exposition des mineurs aux contenus
Internet], 2019, op. cit., p. 37.
recommending then its deployment on all online activities requiring an age checking
and “a specific governance, with a body issuing the cards and managing the
authentication systems.”217
- the use of an identifier provided for by a public service (for example FranceConnect
in France) used to connect to official websites as those of the tax administration or
the social welfare. Nevertheless, the CNIL explains that: “Such method doesn’t
appears as satisfying, as it would lead the State be in possession of a list of fully
private connections.”218 Furthermore, such a solution would imply that the State
endorses the viewing of pornography.
- an inference system that allows to deduce the internaut age by analysing the
browsing history, which poses wide problems regarding privacy, or through a
questionnaire allowing the measure of the internaut’s maturity, “which appears to be
of poor reliability and the possibility of bypass is important (sharing of the online
answers), together with the fact that bias may be associated to it.”219
- ad hoc systems created by the operating companies of pornographic websites.
Thus, MindGeek developed AgeID,220 a unique identification service: “The user
verifies their email address and then chooses an age verification option from our list
of third-party providers, using options such as SMS, credit card, passport, or driving
licence. […] The user then leaves AgeID and enters the details required to prove
their age into the site of the third-party age verification provider. The third party will
then pass back either a pass or fail to AgeID.”221 Nevertheless, this system is 43
contested, due to the ambiguity of its privacy policy and of an obvious conflict of
interest.222
There are then various methods but, up to now, none has been fully satisfying, as
indicated in the following chart.223
217
privacy], July 26, 2022, op. cit.
218
Ibid.
219
Ibid.
220
https://www.ageid.com/
221
Matt Burgess, “This is how age verification will work under the UK’s porn law”, Wired, 20 June
2019: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-porn-age-verification?page=7
222
Internet], 2019, op. cit., p. 28.
223
French Government – Pôle d’expertise de la régulation numérique (PERen), Détection des mineurs
en ligne : peut-on concilier efficacité, commodité et anonymat ? [Online Detection of the minors: is it
possible to reconcile efficiency, convenience and anonymity?], Éclairage sur…, n° 4, May 2022, p. 7;
For an assessment of the methods, see p.6-13 and Appendix 2, p. 15-20:
https://www.peren.gouv.fr/rapports/2022-05-20%20-%20Eclairage-sur-detection-mineurs_FR.pdf
Chart 1 – Summary of the analysis of the age checking solutions
platform users efficiency
Implementation readability convenience Low fraud- performance flexibility

easiness intrusive resistant
Banking card control

○ ≈ ≈ ○ ○ ≈ ≈
Control by a tobacco
○ ≈ ∕ ○ ≈ ≈ ○
shop
Use of a national data

○ ∕ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
base
Control of an identity
○ ∕ ∕ ∕ ○ ○ ○
paper and a photo
Service of guarantee of
○ ○ ∕ ○ ○ ○ ○
the digital identity
Parental control
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ≈ ○
Content-based social
∕ ∕ ○ ≈ ∕ ∕ ∕
profiling
Use of biometric data

○ ∕ ∕ ≈ ∕ ∕ ≈
44
Auto-declaration
○ ○ ○ ○ ∕ ≈ ○
○ Satisfying, ≈ poor, ∕ unsatisfying Source: PEReN
In France, the CNIL issued an advice in July 2022224 in which it recalled the principles
stated in its advice dated June 3, 2021 (“No direct collection of the identity papers by
the pornographic website editor; no age calculation from the browsing history of the
internaut on the web; no biometric data treatment to identify an individual in a
unique manner or to authenticate such individual”) and concluded that the “current
systems may be bypassed and are intrusive. It calls upon the implementation of
models that would be more respectful of privacy,” as “the recourse to an
independent trusted third party to prevent the direct transmission of identifying data
related to the website’s user”.
224
privacy] July 26, 2022, op. cit.
On such model of an independent trusted third party225 the CNIL’s digital innovation
Laboratory (LINC) collaborated with Olivier Blazy (École polytechnique / Cryptograph)
and the French “Pôle d’Expertise de la Régulation Numérique” (PEReN) to develop a
“digital lock” allowing “on the one hand, to prevent that the trusted third party
identifies the website or the application requesting the verification and, on the other
hand, to reduce the capacity of the requiring website to identify the relevant
individual.”226 Mr. Blazy explains that:
“it is a quite conventional system of recourse to a trusted third party, quite

close to the France Connect system for the online steps with the
administrations. The main difference is that the intermediary will not be the
State, in order to exclude any idea of population control, but a private body
owner of identifying data: banks, notaries, insurances, etc. They know who is
adult and may deliver such information to the website in a confidential
manner.”227
In 2023, an IFOP survey showed that 27% of people (but 41% of women) who
watched an X website during their life would consider ceasing to visit such websites
should the “double-blind” identification system be implemented on all available
pornographic websites.228
d. Requiring parental control or filtering software to be activated by default

It seems necessary to intensify the use of a parental control or filtering software in 45
the fight against exposure of children to pornography. Even if their efficiency
remains controversial, such devices seem to be useful amongst the youngest,
according to a study dated 2009:
“Unwanted exposure to sexual material occurred in 32% of youth in homes

with pop-up/spam blockers and 25% of youth in homes with filtering,
blocking, or monitoring software on the home computer, compared to 43% of
households without preventive software installed on the home computer.
225
See also Christophe Tardieu and Philippe Schil, Prévention de l’exposition des mineurs aux
contenus pornographiques sur internet [Prevention of the minors’ exposure to pornographic contents
on the Internet], 2019, op. cit., p. 17-20.
226
See DIAGRAM 2 – Diagram of the solution’s technical function, in Jérôme Gorin, Martin Biéri and
Côme Brocas, « Démonstrateur du mécanisme de vérification de l’âge respectueux de la vie privée »
[Demonstrator of privacy-friendly age checking mechanism], LINC Laboratoire d’innovation numérique
de la CNIL , June 21, 2022: https://linc.cnil.fr/demonstrateur-du-mecanisme-de-verification-de-lage-
respectueux-de-la-vie-privee
227
Emmanuelle Lucas, « La bonne échelle de régulation de la pornographie est sans doute l’Europe »
[The right pornography regulation scale is probably Europe], December 29, 2021: https://www.la-
croix.com/France/bonne-echelle-regulation-pornographie-sans-doute-lEurope-2021-12-29-1201192283
228
01net, “Exclusive (IFOP) – 8 French people over 10 doubt of the efficiency of the X sites blocking”
(IFOP study for 01net performed by online auto-managed questionnaire from April 13th to 17th, 2023
with a sample of 2 006 people, representative of the French population aged of 18 years and more),
July 2023.
Among otherwise similar youth, pop-up/spam blockers installed on the home
computer were significantly associated with 59% lower odds of reporting
unwanted exposure to sexual material on the home computer; and filtering,
blocking, or monitoring software was significantly associated with 65% lower
odds. When data were […] stratified by age, preventive software was
associated with significantly reduced risk of unwanted exposure for 10–12-
year olds and 13–15-year olds, but not for 16–17-year olds.”229
Thus, as “Most parents do not install filters; and 80% of parents who install parental
control software never activate it,"230 regulation should force the installation and
default activation of such software on every connected device, from leaving the
factory, as such mechanism may be deactivated by the owner (grown up, thus) of
the contract providing Internet access.231 In any event, it shall be also installed and
activated by default in schools, libraries and public places in general.
The European institutions favour such a regulation.
As for the Council of Europe, the PACE, in 2021, called on the member States to
”consider introducing the obligation for manufacturers and distributors of computers
and portable devices to activate anti-pornography filters by default (as opposed to
pre-installed but deactivated filters, which are currently the norm)” and to “require
internet providers to apply an opt-in or opt-out clause, asking customers to choose
whether pornography should be freely accessible or not through their service.”232 In
2022 also, it called upon them to “ensure that easy-to-use parental controls, ad- 46
filtering and ad-blocking tools are built in by default on all devices.”233
As for the European Union, Directive 2018/1808 dated November 14, 2018
amending Directive 2010/13/UE “Audiovisual Media Services” states that “The most
229
Michele L. Ybarra, David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, Janis Wolak, “Associations between
blocking, monitoring, and filtering software on the home computer and youth-reported unwanted
exposure to sexual material online”, Child Abuse & Neglect 33 (2009) 857–869.
230
pornographic contents, Report (15494), § 24. In France, according to an online study performed in
September 2019 with 2 087 parents of children younger than 15 years for the account of the
Observatoire de la Parentalité & de l’Education Numérique (Observatory of parenthood and Digital
Education) and Union Nationale des Associations Familiales (National Union of Family Associations)
(UNAF), regarding the "use of technical solutions by the parents to control digital practices”, only 44%
of parents “have configured the child’s smartphone, console…” and 38% “used technical
mechanisms/surf control software”: « La parentalité à l’épreuve du numérique » [Parenthood tested
by the digital], February 2020, Médiamétrie: https://www.open-asso.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/02/Livret-Unaf-Open-version-VF.pdf
231
See for ex. Christophe Tardieu and Philippe Schil, Prévention de l’exposition des mineurs aux
contenus pornographiques sur internet [Prevention of the minors’ exposure to pornographic contents
on the Internet], 2019, op. cit., p. 34 et s.
232
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography , Resolution 2412 (2021), §
10.4.6, 10.4.7.
233
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), § 6.2.
harmful content, which may impair the physical, mental or moral development of
minors, but is not necessarily a criminal offence, should be subject to the strictest
measures such as encryption and effective parental controls, without prejudice to the
adoption of stricter measures by Member States” (§ 20). Amongst the provisions
related to the video-sharing platforms, such text creates an article 28 b, 3 stating
that: “For the purposes of the protection of minors […], the most harmful content
shall be subject to the strictest access control measures. Those measures shall
consist of, as appropriate: […] h) providing for parental control systems that are
under the control of the end-user with respect to content which may impair the
physical, mental or moral development of minors.”
→ Advantages and disadvantages of such an obligation

An obligation of default activation of a parental control or filtering software presents
some advantages and disadvantages.
Regarding the advantages, such a measure may turn the parental control into a tool
of family dialogue between parents and children on the topic of safety on the
Internet and, in particular, on the issue of pornography. To a certain extent, it may
also allow the parents to answer to the issue of screen time. The measure is also
useful for the adults wishing to protect themselves from exposure to pornography.
In any event, the deactivation step favours awareness, on the first part for the
parents, as they are supposed to take care of the psychic and physical health of their
children, and on the second part, for any individual, as it is the occasion of 47
prevention or explanation by the Internet access provider, the manufacturer, etc.
Nevertheless, the measure causes some difficulties. Indeed, it should never replace
parental awareness and dialogue with the child about his or her online activity, that
are essential. The filtering of the websites whose visit should be prohibited implies
that their list is set on real time, which may be difficult due to the huge number of
pornographic websites and contents of such nature emerging from time to time on
the Internet. Some manage to escape then filtering and some harmless websites are
wrongly filtered.234
→ Various types of software

Various types of software allow to regulate children online activities related to
pornography:235
• The “time limiting” software allows parents to set limits on how much time or
at what time a child can use the computer or Internet;
234
See Julia Hӧrnle, “Protecting children from hardcore adult content online”, OUPblog Oxford
University Press’s Academic Insights for the Thinking World, January 27, 2014, op. cit.; Open Rights
Group & Top10VPN, Collateral Damage in the War Against Online Harms - How charities, schools, and
social support websites are blocked by UK ISP adult content filters , April 2019:
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/collateral-damage-in-the-war-against-online-harms/
235
See for ex. Les filtres qui marchent vraiment contre la pornographie [Filters that really work
against pornography], a brochure from the association “Stop au porno.”
• The “filtering and blockage” software limits access to some sites, words,
and/or image;
• The “Outgoing Content Blocking” software prevents children from revealing
personal information to people they do not know;
• The “Monitoring Tool” software informs adults about children’s online activity
by recording the addresses of visited websites or displaying warning
messages.236
Such tools may also help adult pornography users trapped into dependency and
wishing to free themselves.
→ Some examples of regulations

Some States decided to fight against children’s exposure to pornography, by passing
more or less protective regulations taking advantage of such software.
In the United States, some States require the default activation of such software
on the Internet connected devices upon leaving the factory and allowing deactivation
upon request of the contract holder: it is the case, for instance, in Alabama, South
Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, Utah237 in 2021.
In the United Kingdom, the Ofcom (Office of Communications) issued in 2004 the
“UK code of practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobiles”238
according to which Internet contents have been filtered by mobile
telephone operators, the adults having the possibility to require its deactivation. In
the same way, since the end of 2013 and following a speech of Prime Minister 48
Cameron on July 22, 2013,239 Internet access providers implement by default a
filtering program for pornographic contents among others, the client having the
possibility to deactivate it. Such measure was inserted in the laws by the Digital
Economy Act in 2017.240
In Italy, the law-decree n.28 (art. 7-bis) dated April 30, 2020, provides for the
obligation for the digital communication services provision agreements to activate by
default some parental control systems or filtering for contents that are inadequate
for minors and of blockings for contents dedicated to people over 18 years. The
holder of the contract may require its deactivation. In the event of non-compliance
236
Serkan Çankayaa and al., “Parental controls on children’s computer and Internet use”, Procedia
Social and Behavioral Sciences 1 (2009): 1105-1109.
237
See Device Filter Amendment (HB 72): https://trackbill.com/bill/utah-house-bill-72-device-filter-
amendments/1959365/; Protect Young Eyes, “PYE Helps Device Filtering Legislation Pass in Utah”,
March 24, 2021: https://protectyoungeyes.com/pye-helps-device-filtering-legislation-to-pass-in-utah/
238
Ofcom, UK code of practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobiles, 11 August
2008: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens/ukcode
239
“The internet and pornography: Prime Minister calls for action” , July 22, 2013:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-internet-and-pornography-prime-minister-calls-for-
action
240
Digital Economy Act 2017, s. 104 (Internet filters):
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/contents
with such obligations, the operator shall reimburse the undue amounts invoiced to
the contract holder.
Regarding France, President Macron declared in the UNESCO on November 20,

2019:
“I want a parental control to be implemented by default, to guarantee simply

its application. Nowadays it is a voluntary approach. In most of the cases it is
not sufficient. It must be a default control. […]. We give 6 months to the
Internet actors to participate to this, to propose robust solutions. [...] Should
we have no solution within 6 months, we shall pass a law for the automatic
parental control."
Nevertheless, the law called “Studer Law” dated March 2, 2022241 only provides for
the installation (and not the default activation) of such a system on the Internet
connected devices, the activation being offered to the user on their initial operation.
Yet, for the member of parliament who drafted the bill, it was meant to ensure that
“the question [would not be], should we download a parental control system
or not but should I deactivate it and, if yes, why?”242 The Senate243 rightly
highlighted that “The proposed scheme is less constraining than previously
announced, as creating an obligation of default installation of a parental
control mechanism rather than an obligation of default activation" and that
“the main mechanism is already implemented by the principal market actors ”.
Nevertheless, it asserted that “even if the use of parental control should be 49
eased, it is also essential to pass a fair and moderated text, that does not
interfere excessively in the relationship between parents and their children.”
Poland has considered a draft law on the protection of minors against access to
inappropriate contents on the Internet244: it was withdrawn from parliamentary
proceedings on September 11, 2023. It was intended to impose three types of
obligations on Internet access providers:
241
Law n° 2022-300 dated March 2, 2022, aiming to reinforce the parental control on the access
means to the Internet. See Direction of the legal and administrative information (Prime minister)
« Contrôle parental obligatoire sur les appareils connectés à internet » [mandatory parental control on
the Internet connected devices], September 7, 2022: https://www.service-
public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A15553
242
Tribune, « Bruno Studer : "Le contrôle parental sur Internet doit s’exercer à 100 %" » [Bruno
Studer: "Parental control on Internet shall apply at 100%"], La Croix, March 31, 2021:
https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Bruno-Studer-Le-controle-parental-Internet-doit-sexercer-100-2021-
03-31-1201148665
243
Senate, Commission on Economic Affairs, L’essentiel sur… la proposition de loi visant à encourager
l’usage du contrôle parental sur certains équipements et services vendus en France et permettant
d’accéder à internet [The essentials on… the draft law aiming to encourage the use of parental control
on certain devices and services offered in France and allowing access to the Internet], p. 1:
http://www.senat.fr/lessentiel/ppl21-364.pdf
244
See https://www.sejm.gov.pl/sejm9.nsf/PrzebiegProc.xsp?nr=3282
“implement a free, efficient and easy to use mechanism to block the access to
pornographic contents on the Internet; take promotion steps to make
subscribers aware of the possibility of using a service to restrict access to
pornographic contents on the Internet; issue a report on the actions taken to
promote the use by subscribers of solutions to restrict access to pornographic
contents on the Internet.”245
The minister in charge of the information technologies could have controlled the
respect for the legal provisions by the Internet access providers and impose fines in
case of violation of the regulation. Some difficulties created by such draft law had
already been underlined: operators should have defined what is pornographic and
should be blocked (“to avoid implying that “the government would like to create
censorship””246), on which basis would they have done so and with how many
variations? Could the risk of a significant financial sanction (up to 3% of the
revenues of the previous civil year and, as the case may be, a fine for the manager
of the ISP equivalent to 300% of his/her monthly salary) have led to an over-
blockage?247
e. Making educational establishments safe

At a time when pornography is making its way into playgrounds, mainly via mobile
phones, it is vital to take action to make educational establishments a safe place as
regards minors’ access to pornography. Schools are places where young people
learn to live together as a community, and ensuring their psychological well-being is 50
paramount: it is the responsibility of schools to ensure that the content to which
pupils have access on school premises is healthy and age-appropriate. In addition to
cutting off access to the internet unless there is a specific teaching need, other
measures may be adopted depending on the type of school and public concerned.
In the absence of legislation on these issues, the school may define its own policy in
this area in its internal rules.
→ Require filtering software to be activated

Filtering software should be installed and activated by default in educational
establishments, so as to block pages with harmful content, particularly pornography.
Such a measure could be accompanied by a redirection to a page explaining why
245
Projekt ustawy o ochronie małoletnich przed dostępem do treści nieodpowiednich w internecie
[Draft law on the protection of minors from access to inappropriate content on the internet], UD451:
https://www.gov.pl/web/premier/projekt-ustawy-o-ochronie-maloletnich-przed-dostepem-do-tresci-
nieodpowiednich-w-internecie
246
See Grażyna Zawadka, « Ustawa ma ochronić dzieci w Polsce przed pornografią w internecie » [Act
to protect children in Poland from pornography on the internet], Rzeczpospolita, 06.10.2022:
https://www.rp.pl/polityka/art37193301-ustawa-ma-ochronic-dzieci-w-polsce-przed-pornografia-w-
internecie
247
Monika Sewastianowicz, "RPO: Blokowanie stron pornograficznych nie bez definicji pornografii”
[RPO: Blocking pornographic sites not without definition of pornography], Prawo.pl, July 12, 2023:
https://www.prawo.pl/oswiata/blokowanie-stron-internetowych-dostep-do-pornografii,517712.html
what the pupil wishes to consult is inappropriate, or possibly containing links to
educational material or concerning the dangers of the Internet. Libraries and public
places in general should also be concerned.
In 2021, the PACE called on States to “require public libraries and schools to install
internet filters to block pornography.”248 A year later, it again invited them to “ensure
that easy-to-use parental controls, ad-filtering and ad-blocking tools are built in by
default on all devices; and are systematically activated in public spaces, such as
schools, libraries, and youth clubs.”249
In 2021, New Zealand tested a solution whereby, in the event of a search for
sexual material during school hours, pupils are redirected to pages containing age-
appropriate information on pornography, respectful relationships, the dangers of the
internet, etc.250
In the United States, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)251 passed by
the American Congress in 2000 requires, among others, as a condition to the
granting of fundings from the E-rate Program, that the schools and libraries use
technological protection measures allowing the blockage or filtering of the access to
obscene, child pornographic and detrimental for children contents. Some States
passed regulations to comply with it: according to the organisation National Decency
Coalition, about fifteen of them benefit from an adequate regulation protecting
children from accidental or intentional access to such contents.252
→ Prohibit the use of smartphones, mobile phones and other connected devices on school 51
premises
Several European countries introduce measures to limit or ban the use of connected
devices in educational establishments.
In Italy, the use of mobile phones is prohibited during school hours under
Ministerial Circular no. 30 of March 15, 2007, which is based on Presidential Decree
248
PACE, Gender aspects and human rights implications of pornography, Resolution 2412 (2021),
§ 10.4.5.
249
PACE, For an assessment of the means and provisions to combat children’s exposure to
pornographic contents, Resolution 2429 (2022), § 6.2.
250
Digital Ansvar & Dreyers Fond, Online child protection initiatives - Mapping of selected initiatives in
eight geographical area, May 2022, p. 68 : https://digitaltansvar.dk/wp-
content/uploads/2022/08/Digitalt-Ansvar-2022_-Green-Book_Mapping-of-Online-Child-Protection-
Initiatives.pdf See also : https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/digital-child-
exploitation/$file/N4L-Block-Page-Trial-May-2021-Project-Closure-Report.pdf
251
Federal Communications Commission, Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA):
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
252
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia: see National Decency Coalition, Projects -
Adequate Online Filtering in Schools and Libraries Law: https://decencyusa.org/projects/
no. 249 of June 24, 1998. A reminder of this was issued on December 19, 2022.253
The same will apply in the Netherlands from January 1, 2024.254 In Spain, some
autonomous communities, such as Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and the Community of
Madrid from 2020, are banning the use of mobile phones in the classroom, while
others are leaving it up to individual schools to decide. In Catalonia, a plan similar in
content to French law on the subject is being debated, particularly with a view to
preventing addictive behaviour, as explained by the Health Minister.255
France goes further: in 2010, the Education Code stated that “In nursery schools,
elementary schools and lower secondary schools, the use by a pupil of a mobile
phone during any teaching activity and in the places provided for in the internal
regulations is prohibited” (art. L.511-5). This provision was revised in 2018 and now
prohibits, as a matter of principle, pupils from using any type of electronic
communications terminal equipment in these same places, as well as “during any
activity related to teaching that takes place outside their premises”, except in the
circumstances (“including educational uses”) and places expressly defined in the
internal regulations. In secondary schools [lycées], however, there is no prohibition
in principle but the school rules may prohibit the use of such devices by pupils. In all
cases, the school rules also lay down the penalty, which may consist of confiscation
of the device. This ban does not apply to devices that are essential for pupils with
disabilities. These rules are justified by the risks involved in owning a telephone in a
school environment (theft, harassment, consultation of harmful content, etc.) and by
the desire to ensure that pupils benefit from a quality community life.256
52
4. Blocking the pornographic websites
Regulating access to pornography may be performed through the blockage of such
websites. This involves preventing the access to such websites from a specific
253
See :
https://www.miur.gov.it/documents/20182/6739250/m_pi.AOOGABMI.REGISTRO+UFFICIALE%28U%
29.0107190.19-12-2022.pdf/76b3160f-7626-f1df-b9de-bee88f4a7af4?t=1671527039291
254
Euronews and AFP, « Pays-Bas : les téléphones portables vont être bannis des salles de classe d’ici
2024 » [Netherlands: mobile phones to be banned from classrooms by 2024], July 5, 2023:
https://fr.euronews.com/2023/07/05/pays-bas-les-telephones-portables-vont-etre-bannis-des-salles-
de-classe-dici-
2024#:~:text=%22Les%20%C3%A9l%C3%A8ves%20peuvent%20moins%20bien,partir%20du%201
er%20janvier%202024.%22
255
Joan Planes, « Cataluña quiere prohibir los móviles en colegios e institutos: la Generalitat ya tiene
lista la ley » [Catalonia wants to ban mobile phones in schools and high schools : the Generalitat has
the law ready], La Razon, September 13, 2023: https://www.larazon.es/cataluna/generalitat-cataluna-
estudia-prohibir-moviles-escuelas-institutos_202309136501a5537caa7b0001c0dbf2.html « Catalunya
no prohibirá el uso de los móviles en los centros escolares » [Catalonia will not ban the use of mobile
phones in schools], Catalunyapress, September 24, 2023:
https://www.catalunyapress.es/articulo/sociedad/2023-09-24/4447148-catalunya-no-prohibira-
moviles-centros-escolares
256
See Ministry of Education and Youth, « Interdiction du téléphone portable dans les écoles et les
collèges » [Ban on mobile phones in schools and colleges]:
https://www.education.gouv.fr/interdiction-du-telephone-portable-dans-les-ecoles-et-les-colleges-
7334
country, regardless of the place where they are hosted. Such a measure may act as
a sanction following the non-compliance with the regulation, including when the
blockage is temporary, pending compliance with the regulation, or a more drastic
and overall solution for regulating access to pornography, corresponding to the
implementation of the prohibition of pornography or of certain types of content.
In the European Union, Directive 2018/1808 dated November 14, 2018, amending
Directive 2010/13/UE “Audiovisual Media Services” indicates, in the new article 3,
that in the specific context of audiovisual media services, a Member State may,
temporarily and under specific conditions, restrict retransmission on its territory of
audiovisual media services originating from other Member States
“where an audiovisual media service provided by a media service provider

under the jurisdiction of another Member State manifestly, seriously and
gravely infringes point (a) of Article 6(1) or Article 6a(1) or prejudices or
presents a serious and grave risk of prejudice to public health.”
Blocking also appears as a complementary measure to the suppression at source of
the illegal contents, which is the most efficient measure but proved to be often
impossible. It has been mostly discussed in the context of child pornography
diffusion. In 2011, the PACE called thus upon the Member States of the Council of
Europe to “set up efficient mechanisms to interrupt the commercial and non-
commercial online distribution of child abuse images, giving priority to the rapid
removal of illegal content wherever possible, and including the blocking of websites 53
as a complementary measure when appropriate.”257 The European Union in Directive
2011/93/UE dated December 13, 2011, on combating the sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation of children and child pornography, notes that:
“the removal of child pornography content at its source is often not possible
when the original materials are not located within the Union […]. Mechanisms
may also be put in place to block access from the Union’s territory to Internet
pages identified as containing or disseminating child pornography.” (§ 47)
Under article 25 of such text:
“Member States may take measures to block access to web pages containing
or disseminating child pornography towards the Internet users within their
territory. These measures must be set by transparent procedures and provide
adequate safeguards, in particular to ensure that the restriction is limited to
what is necessary and proportionate, and that users are informed of the
reason for the restriction. Those safeguards shall also include the possibility of
judicial redress.”(§ 2)
257
PACE, Combating “child abuse images” through committed, transversal and internationally co-
ordinated action, Resolution 1834 (2011), 5 October 2011, 8.2.2.
In Germany,258 the Commission for the youth protection in the media (KJM) may
decide the blockage of pornographic websites infringing the regulation: it was the
case of xHamster in 2022 and Twitter was also compelled in 2020 to prevent visit
from Germany of profiles that were disseminating pornography. Philippines blocked
several pornographic websites in 2017, after Pornhub revealed the record time of
visit of the Filipinos.259 In China, where pornography is strictly forbidden,260 the
authorities are actively blocking such sites.261 In France, none of the websites against
which the ARCOM launched a procedure due to the persistent absence of an users’
age control has yet been blocked.262
Blocking is a controversial measure as it jeopardises the principle of neutrality of the

net whose goal is to “ensure the equality of treatment and transit of all the
information flows on the Internet, regardless of their issuer or recipient.”263.
Blocking is sometimes part of the censorship in authoritarian States and could be
considered as a “fatal political signal.”264 Furthermore, even if such measure is more
difficult to implement from a procedural rather than a technical point of view,265 it
presents the disadvantage to be easily bypassed, should one have some knowledge
in computing, including with “the use of VPN or browsers embedded software that
allow to bypass the blockage systems implemented by the ISP. A blockage by IP
address rather than by DNS266 would render such bypasses more difficult.”267 In
France, an IFOP survey performed in 2020 evidenced that, to the question “How
would you react should you want to visit a pornographic website whose access is
blocked or limited by a mandatory majority checking?”, 41% of frequent or
occasional users of X websites (i.e. 59% of the sample) answered that they would 54
bypass the system by using or installing a VPN, and 31% answered that they would
258
See A. Billon, A. Borchio Fontimp, L. Cohen, L. Rossignol, « Porno : L’enfer du décor » [Porn: Hell
behind the stage], Information Report n° 900 (2021-2022), Senate, op. cit., p. 124 and 165 and s.
259
Margi Murphy, “PORNSNUB Pornhub’s biggest fans have been BLOCKED from using smut site”, The
Sun, 16 January 2017.
260
Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, Chapter VI-Crimes of Obstructing the
Administration of Public Order, Section 9-Crimes of Producing, Selling or Disseminating Pornographic
Materials, Art. 363 et seq.: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/5375/108071/F-
78796243/CHN5375%20Eng3.pdf
261
Chu Chenge, “Incomplete and Opaque : The Problems with China’s Porn Laws”, Sixth tone,
December 9, 2016: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1661/incomplete-and-opaque-the-problems-
with-chinas-porn-laws
262
Cf. supra.
263
ARCEP, « La neutralité du net » [Net neutrality]: https://www.arcep.fr/nos-sujets/la-neutralite-du-
net.html
264
Julius Stiebert, “Netzbetreiber sollen Pornoportal sperren” [Network operators should block porn
portal], Posteo, March 04, 2022: https://posteo.de/news/netzbetreiber-sollen-pornoportal-sperren
265
See for ex., but somehow in a caricatural way: FigaroLIVE, show On ne parle que de ça, with
Charlotte Barrillon-Dennebouy: Ovidie: « On a atteint un stade de violence inouïe dans le porno » [An
uncanny violence level has been reached in porn], January 13, 2017, 13’25 : https://youtu.be/IkXt-
sfkuMA
266
Blocking by DNS (Domain Name System) is blocking by domain name.
267
A. Billon, A. Borchio Fontimp, L. Cohen, L. Rossignol, « Porno : L’enfer du décor » [Porn: Hell
behind the stage], Information Report n° 900 (2021-2022), Senate, op. cit., p. 123.
bypass the system with a change of their DNS.268 Nevertheless, blocking prevents
non-intentional exposure to the blocked websites or contents.269
* * *
55
268
« Les Français et le projet de loi restreignant l’accès aux sites pornographiques » [The French and
the draft law restricting access to pornographic websites], IFOP survey for “La voix du X” performed
online from June 17, to 18, 2020 with a national representing sample of 1 020 people aged 18 or
more, p. 15: https://www.ifop.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/06/Rapport_Ifop_Voix_du_X_2020.04.24.pdf See also Fabien Soyez, « Blocage
des sites porno en France, pourquoi c’est impossible ? » [Blockage of the porn websites in France,
why is it impossible?], Cnet, October 15, 2021: https://www.cnetfrance.fr/news/blocage-des-sites-
porno-en-france-pourquoi-c-est-impossible-39930809.htm
269
On the advantages and disadvantages of blocking, in a context of child pornography, see PACE,
Combating “child abuse images” through committed, transversal and internationally co-ordinated
action, Report, Doc 12720, 19 September 2011, § 30 and s.
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Combating Pornography

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Combating Pornography

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COMBATING

Pornography, a harmful consumer product

Relationships, couples, families and ultimately the society are endangered by

Acting to protect (potential) consumers: better regulate the access to

Several supranational documents recognise the harmfulness of pornography and call

To render the consumers reluctant to access to online pornography, it is possible to

Several mechanisms may help prevent access to online pornography more

It is further necessary to repress the accessibility of a pornographic content

Requiring pornographic websites to check their users’ age is a measure

It seems necessary to intensify the use of parental control or filtering

2. Endangered health ..................................................................................... 8

a. Pornography, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexual dysfunctions 9

a. A more and more massive exposure to pornography ............................... 11

5. Women’s rights in danger ......................................................................... 18 5

6. Relationships, couples, families and society at risk ..................................... 20

PART 2: Acting to protect the (potential) consumers: better regulating

2. Adoption of a classification system ............................................................ 26

3. Preventing access to online pornography for children and teenagers ........... 27

a. Creating a national body in charge of the protection of minors against

c. Requiring pornographic websites to check users’ age ............................... 33

So, in 2011, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, “Acknowledging

“It is easier to enslave nations with

Pornography may not anymore be considered as neutral and harmless. People

1. A “pornographic consumer society”

As mentioned by a recent report presented to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

b. Pornography and addiction

The frequency of the pornographic viewing by young people is also worrying. In

Early viewing of pornography is thus not harmless, as admitted by the PACE:

This exposure brings increased risks of harmful gender stereotyping, addiction

“the perturbations induced by the viewing of such type of program by young

“The patients we meet frequently mention repeated contact or even massive

5. Women’s rights in danger

Indeed, pornography misrepresents women, in a “sexist and hostile to women”96

6. Relationships, couples, families and society at risk

In front of those various observations showing the harmfulness of pornography and

It should nevertheless be kept in mind that prevention is an absolute necessity, all

Access to pornography can be regulated through various mechanisms. They should

1. Obligation to affix a warning message

“In order to empower viewers, including parents and minors, to make

According to article 1.10, a new article 6a is so drafted:

“ensure that tagging of online content as “restricted to adults” is mandatory

“introduce warning label systems requiring pornographic websites to display a

2. Adoption of a classification system

A rating system “works by embedding electronic labels in the text or image

3. Preventing access to online pornography for children and teenagers

“Nowadays, pornography walked through the door of the school as alcohol

b. Punishing the accessibility of a pornographic content for minors

“All items of programme services, as concerns their presentation and content,

“Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that audiovisual 31

net-lexposition-des-mineurs-aux-contenus-prejudiciable In Germany, § 184 of the Penal Code (StGB)

c. Requiring pornographic websites to check users’ age

→ A measure widely promoted at the European level

“encourage the use of conditional access tools by content and service

In Germany, under §4 of the Länder’s treaty on youth protection in the medias

The United Kingdom173 scheduled the implementation of an age checking

Thus, “as of today, no democratic country managed to implement a fully satisfying

→ A measure that poses technical, economical and legal difficulties

Thus, at the European Union level, euConsent200 is a consortium funded by the

“the introduction of mandatory age verification systems will be an expensive

- the presentation of a credit card or a micro-payment by bank card.209 It being

Implementation readability convenience Low fraud- performance flexibility

Banking card control

Use of a national data